Gambling addiction is a serious problem that truly haunts thrill-seekers. According to the latest data from WHO and the ICD-11 revision, gambling addiction is a recognized mental disorder with a number of symptoms: maladjustment, a lack of control over the gaming process, and the exclusive priority of gambling hobbies over others.
If a person has a pronounced gambling addiction, he will not be of much use at work, and he will also bring inconvenience and pain to people close to him. Players lose control over everyday life, reducing daily activities to a common denominator—the process of the game. At some point, they no longer want to win a jackpot – they only feel the thirst to win back after a big loss, and otherwise, the gambler needs another dose of bright emotions from the game, the feeling of an imminent win.
The following article will discuss sport betting gambling addiction, its consequences, and the impact on others and the player himself. We will consider the symptoms and the impact of gambling addiction on everyday life, as well as options and ways to get rid of gaming addiction.
What Is Gambling Addiction?
Gambling addiction manifests itself, first of all, in an obsessive need to win back. No matter how much money the gambler has spent, he will invest more and more, which will eventually lead to significant debts. With thoughtful and measured play on slot machines, most people don’t experience the ardent excitement that characterizes almost every gambler. Players who adhere to a certain strategy or follow tactical betting schemes most often don’t fall into the category of gamblers weeks after starting to play. Gamblers are often avid visitors to the street or online casinos, accustomed to low stakes; they don’t have a clear winning strategy.
Unlike episodic problematic behavior, progressive gambling is characterized by a loss of self-control and guilt for losing or not betting high enough in the event of winning. Gambling addiction can also be a consequence of a mental illness or one of the components of a comorbid disorder, so successful gambling addiction treatment involves complex psycho-correction using medications and psychotherapeutic methods. Medicaid reference books say that gambling addiction symptoms are similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder based on frequent repetition of rewarded behavior. Constant stimulation of the reward system during excitement leads to increased production of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which causes a feeling of euphoria and reinforces problematic behavior. As the sensitivity of nerve cells to dopamine decreases, the need for stimulation increases and gradually subjugates all areas of life.
Signs and Symptoms of Gambling Addiction
Experts define the signs of gambling addiction as follows:
- Loss of Control. A person is unable to control the time spent playing games. Even if there are important and urgent ones, he is unable to tear himself away from his favorite activity;
- Isolation. A person avoids social contact, distances himself from family members and friends, and all because of excessive passion for gambling;
- Denial of Problems. A gambling addict refuses to accept the fact that he has serious problems because of gambling. He ignores the existing and potential negative consequences for health, relationships, and professional life;
- Physiological Symptoms. A gambling addict begins to have problems with sleep (insomnia, frequent awakenings), vision deteriorates, headaches become worse, and loss of appetite is observed;
- Financial Issues. Gambling addiction is the cause of serious financial problems. An inveterate gambler constantly has an irresistible desire to win back, which in turn entails serious consequences in terms of expense. In the end, as a rule, gambling addicts are left alone with their debts, unable to pay them off, even by remortgaging the house.
Is gambling the worst addiction? Maybe not, but it’s devastating. In fact, symptoms can vary from person to person. Most online casino, poker, or other gambling players experience no symptoms of gambling addiction, while others experience all of them.
There is no specific psychological profile for determining susceptibility to gambling addiction. Everything depends on the person’s temperament and the richness of his life outside the game. The more direct the priorities, the less likely it is that the game will take up more space in life than it should.
Statistics and Impact of Gambling Addiction
How old do you need to be to gamble? Is a key question. Online gambling with sports betting has no age limit at all; just click “Yes, I am 18 years old” when entering the site. When visiting street casinos, you may of course not be allowed in if you look young, but in practice, the minimum age limit here is 16–18 years.
According to the latest statistics, the prevalence of gaming addiction worldwide is about 3-4%, with men aged 20–45 predominating among gamers. Unofficial statistics are more terrifying; according to the most current underground data, the number of gamblers increased 8 times between 2012 and 2024. This was facilitated by the large number of online casinos and the free distribution of information about gambling establishments on the Internet. Gambling addiction, first of all, prevents a person from developing financially. Everything is used, from a full salary to mortgages on houses and cars. Money is constantly required for the game; both the gambler’s family and friends can suffer. You can’t do without professional intervention, since the gambler soon turns into almost a copy of the drug addict, except that the appearance is a little neater.
How to Stop a Gambling Addiction
The first and most important step towards recovery is the recognition of the existing problem and the desire to fix it. The outcome of treatment directly depends on the level of motivation of the addict. To get rid of gambling addiction and eliminate the negative consequences caused by it, it is imperative to seek help from qualified specialists.
Factors that help speed up the process:
- The desire of the patient himself
- Help from loved ones
- The professionalism of the medical staff
Gambling addiction is a disease that will never go away without medical help. You should not hope that an addicted person will free himself from this habit. The longer the addiction lasts, the more difficult it will be to help him.
Treatment Options for Gambling Addiction
If a person has a progressive gambling addiction, only qualified specialists can help get rid of the disease, but the treatment process will be quite labor-intensive and lengthy. At the initial stage, treatment can take the form of visiting a psychologist and outpatient psychotherapy. With the development of pathological addiction to games, therapy is necessary in a closed clinic, away from all temptations, under the constant supervision of doctors.
Few people managed to break free from the shackles of gambling addiction with one effort of will; as a rule, the fight against gambling addiction is a long path that is difficult to go through alone. Comprehensive treatment of gambling addiction is built on a plan that has proven itself in practice and helped many patients maintain recovery:
- Initial consultation with a psychiatrist, motivational interview;
- Analysis of the medical history, identification of risk factors for relapse;
- Inpatient treatment for gambling addiction: relief of psychotic states, withdrawal of addiction, monitoring the response to therapy;
- Development of a personal rehabilitation program;
- Group and individual psychotherapy, formation of a new identity; work on motivation and self-control; rehabilitation; and social adaptation.
Methods to Stop Gambling Addiction
How to stop my gambling addiction? Various methods are used:
- Individual cognitive-behavioral therapy: Cognitive behavioral therapy, the most common approach, helps patients recognize and change negative beliefs, attitudes, and behavior patterns related to gambling. It teaches patients different strategies for managing impulses, develops decision-making skills, and improves self-control.
- Psychophysiological training: In some cases, drug therapy is recommended, in particular coding for gambling addiction. In the presence of concomitant mental disorders, the use of certain medications stabilizes the patient’s mental state and facilitates the recovery process.
- Relaxation techniques: Many rehabilitation centers guarantee highly professional support for the treatment process and the passage of therapy in medical institutions with the help of meditation and relaxation sessions. By finding inner harmony and training concentration on the main priorities of life, the recovery process becomes easy and fast.
- Hypnosis: Gambling addiction treatment with hypnosis eliminates the desire to play during the rehabilitation period, during which the patient learns to do without gambling.
- Neural coding: Coding doesn’t suppress the personality but frees the patient from the omnipotence of biochemistry and allows for a conscious choice in favor of sobriety.
- Laser gambling addiction treatment: By acting on the projection zones of the nerve centers responsible for the feeling of excitement, we eliminate the foci of pathological excitation that inspire a craving for games.
- Home rehabilitation programs
The standard course consists of three procedures with a weekly interval; in parallel, gambling addiction help is carried out with psychotherapy: individual sessions, group training, art therapy, exercise therapy, massage, etc. The main focus of psychotherapeutic treatment is on the cognitive-behavioral approach: the patient and therapist discuss gambling addiction rehab, what emotional needs the client has satisfied with the game, and how to get the desired emotions in a healthy way.
Addressing Depressive Symptoms and Family Therapy
It should be remembered that people participating in the psychotherapy program for gambling addiction very often show symptoms of depressed mood (depression) in the initial period of treatment, and then it is advisable to consider the issue of pharmacological support with antidepressants.
Treatment is broad nowadays and not only includes naltrexone for gambling addiction in adolescents, but it also has its own specifics: it is recommended to undergo a course of family therapy to overcome codependency and harmonize relationships.
Support and Resources
To obtain support during treatment, you can contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline or join local gambling addiction support groups. Gambling Anonymous hotline number can be found within the corresponding online resource. In the process of treating gambling addiction, you can get professional help from doctors and specialists at the rehabilitation center. In addition to the main treatment methods provided by the developed program, players will receive the following support:
- Consultations are available around the clock online. The Gamblers Anonymous hotline is available round the clock.
- Scientifically proven methods that have been tested in practice.
- Developing individual rehabilitation programs.
- Maintaining a cozy, relaxed atmosphere in the hospital helps reduce stress during hospitalization.
- Advanced methods of physiotherapy and neurostimulation.
There are many applications for managing gambling addictions or therapeutic services on the Internet. Among the most useful services is RecoverMe from the App Store, which has been helping people cope with gambling and other types of addictions for many years. The application’s functionality includes both professional programs for treating gambling addiction and for treating other types of addictions.
Preventing Relapse
If a gambling addiction relapses, it is necessary to focus on identifying its triggers. Relapse often occurs due to exposure to emotional or environmental triggers that tempt you to start gambling again.
Recommendations for relapse of gambling addiction:
- A good way to solve a gambling problem is to postpone the desire for instant gratification and give yourself at least an hour’s break before making a decision. Often, waiting kills the desire to play, it becomes weaker or disappears completely.
- Boredom is often the leading catalyst for increased gambling desire among gamblers. It is necessary to redirect your attention, distract yourself, and find new activities. This can be sports, drawing, singing, etc.
- A gambling problem is often a symptom of other psychological conditions, such as chronic stress, anxiety, depression, or boredom. It is important to learn to cope with them by using new ways of responding to difficult feelings and emotions. Psychotherapy sessions can help with this.
- An important step is to seek advice from your doctor. The doctor will help to identify the cause of the relapse of gambling addiction, give further recommendations, and prescribe a new course of treatment.
- It is also necessary to establish trusting relationships with family members and share your problems and experiences with them.
Conclusion
Neither computer games nor gambling pose any threat when a person is able to control the situation. If a man, after a hard day at work, sits down at the computer to play his favorite game for an hour or two, or a group of friends plans a trip to the casino on a day off to get vivid impressions and spend a predetermined amount of money, this is normal.
But if all business, work, and study are postponed, a person does not sleep, forgets about food and other physiological needs, and plays for days on end, it is worth thinking about the developing pathology of a gambler. Also, a gambling addict can be easily detected by how easily a gamer gets into a frenzy, spends all the money, and borrows more and more to win back. Like any free minute, a person is devoted to thinking over new game schemes, and when he loses, he reacts too emotionally and becomes aggressive.
Remember that gambling addiction, like any other, is a serious disease and the sooner it is identified, the faster and more effective the treatment process will be.
