Casino addiction, just like every other gambling addiction, is rampant and increases your chances of having financial difficulties, suicide, and an unstable family (It is not far-fetched). But there is more to this behavioral addiction that meets the eye. That is why we came up with this piece to tell you to have a gambling addiction treatment and some other things that are worth discussing. Whether you bet on online casinos, you buy lottery slips or casinos. The two main feelings you need to be conscious and stay off are compulsive betting coupled with delusional thoughts such as thinking that winning takes skills and not necessarily luck — these two are not healthy for a gambler. They would ultimately play a part in the gambler’s path to that unending addiction troubles.
Did you know that more than 40% of gamblers start having problems with gambling right before the age of 17? That’s according to the gambling court.
Introduction
Gambling addiction can happen to anyone. It moves from a mild and fun event to a twisted obsession that comes with its serious consequences. It is much more than a casino addiction; this is more of compulsive gambling or pathological gambling disorder. The problem lies in the fact that one starts to experience impulse control disorder. Whether it’s right or wrong, broke, or you relatively have cash, you will go to the casino and gamble anyways. It hits the height when the odds are obviously against you—the feeling of not wanting to lose.
How does Casino Addiction start?
It is quite similar to substance abuse, casino addiction, and gambling generally starts as a coping mechanism. Some factors they probably are dealing with include:
- Sort of relief from home or community stress, boredom, or pressure.
- Cross addiction which is a form of substitution of another addiction.
- Giving you that fleeting thought of feeling that empty, lonely, or sad void.
Online Casinos and Gambling
Back in 2010, casinos earned over $29 billion. Professionals also believe that online casinos and gambling as a whole will be worth over $9 billion this year (2020). The emergence of free online casinos will lead to more users investing their time in it.
Busting the myths about compulsive gambling
Just as you are here right now, you’ve also come across some misinformation about Gambling problems.
Myth 1 : Gambling disorder is not a problem, especially when the gambler in question can afford it.
Busting the Myth: The problems caused by gambling is more than just the financial side. When it becomes overbearing, then the time spent on gambling can affect your relationship with all your loved ones, issues with people in your workplace, which automatically changes your earning and your ability to play your role at home. To be more specific, this disorder results in depression, mental health issues, job loss, anxiety, and in extreme cases, suicide.
Myth 2 : Having gambling issues is just a case of being’ weak’, dumb, or irresponsible.
Busting the Myth: One of the things we hear all the time is that having gambling-related problems can only be as a result of you being weak-willed, not being smart enough, and irresponsible. Well, I hate to break to you, but its more than that. It has little to do with your level of smartness and your good background. We’ve heard stories of religious personalities losing everything (using the phrase ‘losing everything’ loosely). You’ll be shocked to find out that it also affects the strongest-willed and responsible ones amongst us.
Myth 3 : When a gambler racks up debt, you need to help them fix it.
Busting the Myth: In this case, offering fast fixes to this case is not the ideal solution. Even though this appears to be the thing to do at this time, the last thing you want to do is to help them fix it; breaking news, this will worsen situations. What you’ll be doing is ’empowering’ this gambler.
The Phases of this addiction
Now that we’ve cleared some myths that surround gambling. It usually starts as a coping mechanism. This act can metamorphose into something sinister; an addiction if one is not careful. The problems are often in different phases. They include:
The Winning Phase: this is the real reason why you want to keep playing. At this stage, you start to enjoy the ‘high.’ It is a feeling that comes from winning. At this phase, you are hyped up so much that you don’t want to remember whether the winnings are real or not.
The Losing Phase: Now, this is when everything starts to spiral down. This is the moment when it changes from winning to a losing phase. The gambler begins to lose.
Desperation: At this point, reality sets. The thought of losing everything starts to set in.
Hopelessness: This is the final phase. Unfortunately, desperation, in this case, leads to total despair.
Side effects of being a chronic gambler
- As a chronic gambler, you start to spend excessive time and money on gambling.
- They crave to get even. All persistent players are drawn deeper.
- You begin to experience a ‘wavy’ type of emotion. Mood swings, hopelessness, and depression are some terrible emotions you feel.
- You spend valuable time gambling.
- Just like every other form of addiction, there will be lots of times when you’d try to move on and fight it, but find yourself cutting back.
- You become restless or easily irritated when you try to fight the habit.
Gambling Addiction Treatment
Interestingly, this is one problem that’s a growing issue on a global scale. In case you know someone who’s battling this addiction, there are lists of places where you can seek help. Each country has a National Helpline responsible for providing people with the records of homes you can take them. So, the next time you try surfing the internet for that top 10 best online casinos, have all the things we’ve spoken about in this article. Cheers!
