Gambling addiction is a very serious psychological problem. People start it as a fun activity and soon get addicted to it as if they can’t live without it. Some might not see it as a problem, but the truth remains the truth whether someone believes it or not. How can gambling be an addiction, it’s just a leisure time activity, isn't it? Nope, we aren’t asking these questions, these are the common questions that non-gamblers ask while discussing gambling addiction. According to them, something like gambling addiction doesn’t even exist. So, just to help you get an idea of how serious the problem is, we would like to tell you that the NCPG hotline, (National Council on Problem Gambling), an organization dedicated to helping gambling addicts received 317,000 calls last year. Isn’t it shocking?
Now, if you hear someone saying that they are addicted to gambling, don’t laugh at them. Instead, approach them and offer a helping hand. They might not be your friend, relative, or an acquaintance; but they desperately need your help. Help them for the sake of humanity if not out of empathy.
Don't judge or discriminate anyone because of their gambling habit, it can happen to anyone. Chances are that even you might get addicted to gambling under certain given circumstances. Below are some tips suggested by gambling professionals to help people sufferinging from the overwhelming gambling addiction.
#1. Identify And Accept That You Have Got A Problem
Any psychological problem can only be dealt with when it’s accepted as a problem. Acceptance is a more precise cure to any problem than that of any medicine or therapy altogether. So, if you’re the person in question or someone from your family is addicted, the first process is to realize or make them realize that there’s a problem. Unless and until you accept the truth, you cannot implement it in your own life.
Some people are so stubborn that they won’t even accept that they’re addicted, even if they have lost almost everything because of gambling. Thus, the number of gambling addicts turning towards recover and seeking medication is below 3 percent. Be it any kind of addiction, the first step on the road to recovery starts with accepting that you need help. It’s nothing to be shy of, you’re not the lone wolf suffering from the problem. I hope at least this makes you take the first step towards your recovery.
If stuck in a situation, the life-saving decision is when to call for help, not how to save yourself from the problem. So, when gambling becomes a problem the first big thing to know is when to seek help.
#2. Join A Support Group
For people willing to recover from their gambling addiction, there are multiple gambling addiction support groups too which can be helpful. With so many people suffering from gambling, the chances are that a gambling addiction support group already exists and you just need to find your nearest one. These support groups have a very effective 12 step anti-gambling addiction program which can cure the addiction completely.
According to a report, there are around 1,700 gambling addiction groups alone in the United States, all of which can be located by city and state on their website. Moreover, these groups exist in 86 International cities out of which 40 are in the United States. So, if you’re suffering from gambling addiction, just pick your phone, call the given helpline number, and enroll yourself in the anti-gambling addiction program.
#3. Seek Professional Help
Gambling is as serious as any other addiction and can't be solved without any professional's help. So, if you're thinking of dealing with it all by yourself, drop the idea and seek some professional who can help you. The standard treatment for gambling addiction is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), in which a therapist and addict work one-on-one to change the gambler's destructive behavior and thoughts.
How does CBT help? CBT helps gambling addicts build coping skills and develop cognitive tools to help them resist the urge to gamble. The tasks are not very tough and even the simplest activities like learning how to wait for increasingly longer periods of time before giving in to the gambling urge can help in recovering from the problem.
However, there are some basic things you must know- don't quit the therapy in the middle, or don't do anything that draws you to gambling again. Try to keep your family and finances away from gambling rather than escaping through gambling.
#4. Gambling Medication
Gambling addiction is like any other health issue, only this time it's affecting your personal and professional life too. Thus, like every medicine has a cure, even gambling addicts can take some help from medication.
Like a drug addict who has become desensitized to small amounts of the drug, people who are prone to gambling addiction often have trouble feeling the same "high" that other people get when anticipating winning money. Thus, they might not stop when it's high time to stop and continue to gamble unless they are left with nothing to gamble. The urge to gamble increases with the increasing imbalance in dopamine and to correct this imbalance of dopamine, psychiatrists may suggest you some alternatives like SSRIs, which is a medically approved antidepressant that affects the serotonin system.
The psychiatrist may even suggest other alternatives such as lithium. Though, Lithium is a very rare suggestion by a psychiatrist, and it is suggested only in case the victim is also suffering from bipolar disease. And the second prescribed alternative can be opiate antagonists like nalmefene. Nalmefene is known to reduce the positive feelings associated with winning, indirectly helping the victim to refrain from gambling.
#5. Regulate Your Gambling
Some gamblers who are aware that this pleasure activity might soon turn into an addiction are very regulated. They bring limited cash to casino or gambling places and ensure that they don’t deplete the money saved for other needs like grocery, rent, etc. However, the same is not the case with people who are clearly identified as pathological gamblers. They are just opposite to regulated gamblers, and they bring all they have for gambling and even ask for money from others. They can take help from gambling advisor or designate a trusted person as their financial advisor who can control their finances and stop them from accessing extra cash for gambling. This is very effective for people who are suffering from a relapse.
For a person addicted to gambling, the entire time-starting from realizing his problem to seeking a solution, till finally recovering from the addiction can be very tough. The situation can turn emotionally deteriorating if the people he/she expects will help turn their back on the victims. Please don’t hesitate to help a gambling addict, they genuinely need help. It only takes the efforts to pick up the phone and dial the gambling addiction helpline number, the rest is taken care by them.
We hope you like the article. Let us know if any of your loved ones was addicted to gambling. If yes, then how did they got out of gambling and how did they recover. Please share your comments and opinions using the comment section. There are people who are waiting to read your valuable feedback and use to encourage themselves to fight the problem.
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