Many casino regulars have been playing for a few years and do not understand how gambling addiction starts. Some of them do not believe in Ludomania at all. They rely on their experience and assure others that problem gambling is fake. Addictive gamblers do not want to be responsible for their actions and try to justify their weaknesses.
Who to Blame for Your Gambling Addiction
Psychologists who treat compulsive gamblers are sometimes prone to exaggeration. They inflate a minor problem to a universal scale to earn more money.
Similar arguments can be heard in the debate between supporters and opponents of alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and other harmful habits. Some say that they cause dangerous addiction. Others claim that it costs nothing to give up alcohol or cigarettes.
Experts explain this by examining the personal characteristics of the human organism. The tendency may differ if we discuss gambling, and you may not understand that you are exposed to it.
The purpose of this short article is to give a few tips on how to avoid gambling addiction.
How Problem Gambling Develops
Let's start with the fact that many customers of offline or online casinos recognize the problem of compulsive gambling problem only when there are real problems in everyday life. In other words, until they lose a little more than planned or linger at the table a little longer than others would, they consider it normal.
- But gradually, the flywheel spins stronger.
- Losses become more significant.
- The family suffers from a lack of attention from the father, who spends days in a casino.
- Business starts to decline.
- And then health begins to fail.
What is more surprising is that some players do not want to recognize that they are in trouble, even when they are left without a wife, job, home, or friends. They only care about the lack of money for betting but blindly believe in luck, not realizing that even a big win will not change the situation.
That is why it is essential to recognize the signs of gambling addiction before the effects of the irreversible fatal passion. And it would help if you started learning the basics of money management (money for the game).
How to Avoid Compulsive Gambling
Here are several helpful tips:
- Plan a monthly budget for the casino. If you do not allow yourself to go beyond this amount, playing will usually be entertainment, like visiting billiards or discos. But once you spend at least a little more time, it should be a wake-up call.
- The same applies to the time spent playing. Plan when you go to the casino and how long you will be there. This is another reason to think if you linger there for at least half an hour.
- Ideally, after each such violation, you should pause and give some time to the gambling entertainment. It is not difficult at this stage, but you can no longer stop playing so easily after two or three such failures.
This is the easiest way to understand if you have a gambling addiction. If you keep yourself in your hands and do not give the game to make you forget everything, you can assume you are ok. But going beyond the framework that you have defined clearly indicates that you need to limit yourself.
When to Sound the Alarm
Analyze your behavior. Look back at your behavior over the past few months. These symptoms should be warning signs for you:
- You have frequent thoughts of gambling.
- You wonder where to get the money to go to the casino.
- You are not interested in playing with small bets and constantly increase them.
- You drive away thoughts of quitting gambling.
- You have tried to quit but without success.
- You deceive your family and friends by hiding your casino addiction.
- Because of gambling, You have to adjust your work schedule and daily habits.
- You instantly forget about losing and don't feel bad about it.
- You have to save money in other areas to play at the casino.
These are just the first signs. If you leave them unchecked and continue to gamble irresponsibly, further symptoms will be much more serious. They will probably lead to real trouble:
- Financial ruin,
- A broken family,
- Loss of a good job,
- Criminal liability,
- Health problems, and so on.
Learn to stop. This is extremely important in gambling. You can be considered fine if you keep your cool and don't let the game make you forget about everything. But going beyond the limits you have set for yourself is a clear sign that you need to limit yourself.
Best of luck to you. Hopefully, our tips will help you avoid such problems.
Good luck to you. We hope that these tips will help you avoid such problems.
