How to avoid becoming addicted to sports betting (gambler)?

Sports betting can be viewed from two sides. The first is bright emotions and additional profit. The last element concerns people with an analytical mind and those who know how to analyze, filter and competently apply the information at hand. This is the positive side of the coin. The second is less attractive: addiction, loss of money savings, bankruptcy, problems, conflicts, psychological disorders.

Not every player knows how to keep excitement and emotions under strict control. Not everyone knows how to get rid of gambling addiction and not become free. Some bettors, after a major loss, run to win back instead of stopping, analyzing everything, finding out what the mistake was, and drawing the right conclusions. Such aspirations lead to negative consequences. In this article we will tell you everything about gambling addiction and how not to become addicted to sports betting .

Predisposing factors

Not all players are affected by this disease. There are special reasons, the presence of which can develop addiction in a gambling person:

• obsessive-compulsive disorder, hormonal differences in the body, various psychological traumas;
• midlife crisis, depression, feeling of loneliness;
• desire to win money quickly;
• bad example of an important person, heredity;
• dissatisfaction with life, lack of meaning in life;
• tendency to engage in repetitive actions.

The presence of one or more of these factors can develop a gambling addiction to sports betting.

Who is a gambler?

A gambler is a person who has a serious addiction to gambling, in this case we are talking about gambling in bookmakers. The player’s actions are accompanied not only by the loss of money. A person stops responding adequately to comments, turns into an inadequate interlocutor, and loses normal perception of moral and social values. The better is only interested in betting. The rest is of little interest to him. You can compare such a person with a drug addict who is looking for a dose again. If we talk about betting, then we are talking about another bet. True, each subsequent bet becomes less prepared, of less quality, and sometimes completely unanalyzed. Problems appear when a person wins a large sum. Then he forgets about all the rules, strategies, analysis. He begins to place bets at random, in random order, without using pre-match analysis, hoping solely for luck.

Symptoms

It is necessary to distinguish between ordinary gambling addiction and gambling addiction. The second is a very dangerous psychological disorder that can be identified by the following symptoms.

Psychological symptoms:

• complete confidence in the control of one’s actions and control over the situation, a great emotional upsurge during the game, the inability to interrupt the game, even when the player loses;
• irritation and dissatisfaction when it is necessary to finish betting, lying to others about the amounts spent on games;
• a lot of loans from acquaintances and friends, hope for a quick win, theft, various frauds and the sale of things;
• planning the game, its bets and constantly thinking about them, zealous and unsuccessful attempts to win back after losing;
• an increase in the duration of games, problems in your personal life and at work, a bad mood, which is instantly “cured” by the next bet;
• loans in order to repay debts for a lot of games, excitement, mood swings, states of euphoria and depression;
• a gnawing sense of guilt in front of other people, insomnia or frequent nightmares, possible suicide attempts after not winning again. Physiological symptoms of gambling addiction:
• mental exhaustion due to constant excitement during the game;
• the appearance of foci of excitation in the brain;
• terrible appearance, which resembles the appearance of a drug addict;
• release of hormones that negatively affect human organs;
• inability to concentrate on anything;
• constant headaches and heart pain;
• increased load on the body due to its accelerated work, resulting in
• increased blood pressure, increased heart rate and breathing are observed.

Other changes in the patient’s personality: play begins to take first place in life.

A person continues to bet on the game and loses family, friends, acquaintances, and loses his job due to absenteeism. The person ceases to maintain relationships with the outside world, loses or sells things and even housing in dubious offices. May be involved in criminal activities.

Signs of sports betting addiction

• Loss of interest in others, professional activities, and previous hobbies.
• Loss of the ability to self-control, an irresistible desire to place bets, both after a win and after a series of losses.
• More and more time is spent betting, thinking about “strategy,” and hanging out on Internet resources dedicated to betting (sports forecasts).
• Nervousness, anger and irritability in those moments when it is not possible to get to the bookmaker’s website or go to the betting point. The condition can be so bad that it resembles drug withdrawal.
• Increased spending on bets. All “free” and then non-free money is left with the bookmakers.
• Mood swings: excitement and euphoria before the “session”, apathy and depression the rest of the time.
• Lying to loved ones about the amount of time and money given to bookmakers.
• An oppressive feeling of guilt before family, colleagues, friends.
• Deterioration of health due to nervous exhaustion.
• Getting money for bets by hook or by crook, increasing debts.

Forms of addiction

Gambling addiction has 4 main stages:

1. Winning is the initial phase in which the player wins all the time and becomes more and more carried away by dreams of easy money. It increases the time you spend betting and the money, but the bets themselves are small, and your thoughts are not completely absorbed in the game.
2. Losing - a person increases his predictions for sports and bets, usually during this period he begins to borrow money and miss work, does not devote time to his family and loved ones.
3. Dejection - completely loses family, job, friends. He has debts that exceed several tens of thousands of rubles and, as he continues to play, begins to break the law.
4. Hopelessness - absolute involvement in the criminal world, also acquiring alcoholism or drug addiction. The patient loses absolutely everything he had and may attempt suicide.

How to quit sports betting?

When you can’t get rid of your addiction, the only option is to quit betting. Alcoholics stop drinking alcohol in the same way, and smokers stop smoking. We need to quit betting once and for all!

Practical recommendations for stopping playing at a bookmaker:

• block accounts in the bookmaker if the bookmaker provides such an opportunity (Marathon has a “Self-exclusion” option). You can place sure bets several times to get blocked or have the limits lowered;
• do not pay for the Internet and temporarily abandon your computer, tablet, smartphone;
• As soon as you have a strong desire to make a bet, distract yourself by doing what you love. Perhaps it's reading, sports or fishing. Travel helps a lot.

Throwing bets is a really effective method. There should be no turning back. Don't look for reasons to resume playing. The decision is final and irrevocable. Promise yourself, after all!

Consequences

The consequences of gambling addiction on sports betting can be very diverse and sad.

Speaking about the psychological state, we can highlight: the development of various nervous disorders, depression, neurasthenia, obsession, neurosis and much more.

Physiological problems include digestive problems, which are caused by experienced stress: gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, calitis, cholecystitis, etc.

Various diseases of the cardiovascular system may also develop: heart pain, hypertension, heart attack.

To all this are added social consequences in the form of lack of housing, damaged relationships with family, lack of work, debts and even a criminal record.

What does gambling addiction lead to?

Gambling belongs to the same category of mental illness as drug addiction and alcoholism. The patient loses his place in society. Leaves work, leaves family, breaks ties with friends. Huge debts and the sale of one's property often lead to crimes. Up to 60 % of addicts sooner or later resort to breaking the law. The only thing that brings joy is participation in the game, and the game requires money.

Health problems appear as a result of constant stress, lack of sleep and lack of regular nutrition.

Up to 70% of gambling addicts think about suicide. This happens as a result of awareness of one’s own helplessness and hopelessness of the current situation. 40% resort to attempting to commit suicide .

Statistics

Scientists believe that every second person on earth is a potential gambler. Alcohol and drug addiction occurs due to the use of substances from outside. In the case of gambling addiction, the lever is passion, which is hidden in the minds of absolutely everyone.

Treatment of gambling addiction

Since gambling addiction is a psychological disease, the first step to treating it is recognizing its presence. A psychotherapist can establish the presence of a problem at the very first session, but very often sick people come to meetings with a specialist under pressure from relatives, and not themselves. They do not see the problem and do not acknowledge its existence, even after consulting a doctor and his diagnosis.

Successful treatment includes three main conditions:

• psychotherapy;
• trust in the doctor and treatment;
• medicines.

After correctly fulfilling these three points, a person gains a new life without bets.

Drug treatment is carried out with the following drugs:

• antidepressants;
• mood regulators;
• sedatives;
• sleeping pills;
• lithium salts;
• norepinephrine inhibitors.

Help from professionals

Treating addicts means instilling trust in the doctor and treatment methods. If the patient himself does not want to get rid of the problem, then curing him will be much more difficult. The doctor should also try to win over the patient and persuade him to take part in the treatment.

Psychotherapy when getting rid of gambling addiction can use certain psychological techniques.

1. Suggestive – suggesting to a person that the last bet has been made and there is no point in playing anymore. Occurs while awake.
2. Interaction is the study of the patient’s relationships with all relatives, work colleagues and friends. Attempts to establish this communication and avoid further quarrels.
3. Rational - an attempt to reach the mind of the addict, occurs with a detailed explanation of the entire situation and the presentation of evidence.
4. Cognitive – analysis of mistakes in thinking about sports forecasts, adjustment of thoughts and opinions, formation of the correct attitude towards future life.
5. Hypnosuggestive – treatment of gambling addiction using hypnosis and instilling various positive attitudes regarding future life.
6. Analytical – used to detect internal conflict or various traumas. In this case, a full analysis of the detected problem is carried out, and actions are taken regarding its treatment.
7. Activating – stimulates and attracts a sick person to various active social activities, and also helps to formulate a further plan of action to restore life.

After the last therapy has been carried out and results are visible, specialists can continue individual or group work with the patient.

If more than one method did not help or did not give the expected results, then the patient can be coded for gambling addiction.

Rehabilitation centers

There are special institutions that teach people how to get rid of gambling addiction. Not all centers are of high quality. Some don't have licenses. We recommend that you initially try to recover on your own and with the help of loved ones.

There are still few specialized specialists in institutions who understand the peculiarities of addiction in sports betting. The focus is mainly on alcoholism and drug addiction.

Gamblers rarely go to such centers, and in general, they almost never admit their illness. This makes things a lot more difficult, so try throwing bets.