An increased interest in betting may not always manifest itself as an interesting pastime. Some people are at risk of developing a serious illness – gambling addiction – once they start betting on sports and other forms of gambling.
How can gambling turn into a disease?
Gambling addiction is a serious disease, and at first none of the bettors take it seriously. It all starts with the first bet – it is accompanied by confidence in your choice, a great mood, and most dangerously: lust for the profits in the long run. In the latter feeling lies the risk of gambling addiction. If the player wins, he gets his first payout, enjoys it and decides to increase his profits – after all, the money came easily, so it can be repeated.
A person may win several bets in a row and believe in his superpowers as a prognosticator. But sooner or later the moment of losing comes. Psychologically unstable to such an event people are perplexed – “I won, I should have won again – why did I lose? The next thought is: you have to win back the loss. And it is after this thought that you should sound the alarm – gambling addiction begins to progress.
Gambling addiction is a special psychological condition that manifests itself in a powerful uncontrollable craving for games. When there is no opportunity to play roulette or make a bet, they feel stressed out and immediately start looking for money to place a bet. And having money does not save them – sooner or later they will run out, which does not solve the problem. Gambling addicts often lose more than just small amounts of money and resort to gambling with their possessions – cars, flats and even household appliances, jewellery. Gambling addiction is similar to drug addiction, but in this case the addiction can be much stronger than being “on the needle”.
An increased interest in betting may not always manifest itself as an interesting pastime. Some people are at risk of getting a serious disease – gambling addiction – once they start betting on sports and other types of games. In this material, “Rating Bookmakers” will talk about what is the disease of gambling addiction, the causes of the disease, as well as the treatment and manifestation of the ailment among the world’s media personalities.
How can gambling addiction turn into a disease?
Gambling addiction is a serious disease, and at first none of the bettors take it seriously. It all starts with the first bet – it is accompanied by confidence in your choice, a great mood, and most dangerously: the lust for profits in the long run. In the latter feeling lies the risk of gambling addiction. If the player wins, he gets his first payout, enjoys it and decides to increase his profits – after all, the money came easily, so it can be repeated.
A person may win several bets in a row and believe in his superpowers as a prognosticator. But sooner or later the moment of losing comes. Psychologically unstable to such an event people are perplexed – “I won, I should have won again – why did I lose? The next thought is: you have to win back the loss. And it is after this thought that you should sound the alarm – gambling addiction begins to progress.
Gambling addiction is a special psychological condition that manifests itself in a powerful uncontrollable craving for games. When there is no opportunity to play roulette or make a bet, they feel stressed out and immediately start looking for money to place a bet. And having money does not save them – sooner or later they will run out, which does not solve the problem. Gambling addicts often lose more than just small amounts of money and resort to gambling with their possessions – cars, flats and even household appliances, jewellery. Gambling addiction is similar to drug addiction, but in this case the addiction can be much stronger than being “on the needle”.
The typical profile of a gambling addict
The emergence of gambling addiction has certain symptoms of the disease. The main differences between gambling addicts and normal mentally stable bettors are the following features:
- Increased social boldness, which is expressed in abnormal behaviour, risk-taking and adventurousness, and a lack of “brakes”.
- Expressiveness. People in this state believe in spontaneous luck, and their thinking is disoriented by an altered emotional background.
- The ludomaniac is prone to feelings: he is unstable, leaves everything to chance, and does not follow the generally accepted norms of behaviour.
- Tension. Unsatisfied aspirations and disappointment from unfulfilled hopes leads to stress and depression.
- Lack of self-control. A person assesses himself/herself inadequately and has contradictions in self-esteem identification.
Married people who have a steady job have the best chance of getting rid of these traits of character and behaviour. If a person is mentally ready for therapeutic rehabilitation and is in a position to do so, all is not yet lost and the person is able to make their own way towards remission.
Causes of gambling addiction
Gambling addiction develops rapidly, but it is very difficult to identify the onset in good time. Often the lack of self-criticism and criticism of own actions contributes to the detection of gambling addiction – especially in cases where the addicted player has previously assessed himself adequately and was able to accept a fair assessment of his own actions. Let’s look at the groups of causes of gambling addiction.
Character traits of the individual
Among the vast majority of those with a gambling addiction, there is a particular character trait – a love of gambling. People are prone to this disease if they are usually alone. Often it is this feeling that drives a person to gamble for the first time. Lack of ambition in life, unfulfilled aspirations, constant dissatisfaction with oneself – all this encourages the potential gambler to realize himself in gambling. In the opinion of a betting addict, it is easier to become a winner than in reality. That is why the desire to play will depend on your success in betting – the more victories, the higher the interest. There is also an opposite effect – the bigger the loss, the stronger the desire to win it back and get into the black. It’s a double-edged sword.
Relationships in the family
Poor parenting also plays a major role in the spread of gambling addiction. Neglect, abuse, parents and friends, and inconsistent relationships are powerful influences that can lead to addiction. Regular play among family members also seriously affects the child and adolescent psyche, which usually becomes a key link in the later manifestation of gambling addiction – so children often become pathological gamblers. Excessive valuing of material possessions and a high emphasis on financial hardship are real threats to the emergence of gambling addiction.
Personal motivation
Let us distinguish several factors for the emergence of gambling addiction:
- “Easy profiteering”. One of the most common causes for the development of the disease. It is enough to win once, get a dose of adrenaline, after which a person tries to catch this wave of success again and again, and this invariably leads to defeat because of the lack of analysis of their actions.
- A feeling of dissatisfaction. What was mentioned above – a person fails to realise themselves in real life, after which they look for themselves in the game.
- A susceptibility to addiction. People who have bad habits – smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction – have a high chance of becoming a gamer because of the fact that a person has once been able to succumb to at least one addiction.
- Mental disorders. If a person has previously been treated for a mental illness, he or she may also be at high risk of becoming a gambling addict. People with any kind of mental disorder can have a powerful effect on the development of gambling addiction. Such people succumb to gambling easily, after which the progression of the disease will be rapid.
Treatment of gambling addiction
Based on the above information, a rational question matures: how to treat gambling addiction? There are two ways: medication and psychological. In the first case it depends on the existence of other addictions and the stage of the disease. It is necessary to diagnose a patient and then develop an individual programme of rehabilitation (IPR).
It is in the IPR that psychological help is provided. It is important to pay attention to family therapy – it is important to adjust the relationship with your loved ones, as well as working on behaviour patterns within the family circle. It is also necessary to work at changing the value system of the patient – to open his eyes to the necessity of creating his own family and having children, obtaining good education and comprehensive development, earning good money, building correct and healthy relationship with parents and relatives. This should be prioritised because addiction to gambling devalues all of these things.
It is important for the patient to regain a ‘healthy social status’. If necessary, the gambling addict should be helped to find employment and to develop relationships with the community and others in the surrounding society. The development of useful skills will strengthen the connection to the environment and will make the addict find new goals and challenges in life.