How Gambling Addiction Can Affect Our Lives and What Can We Do?
Contents
Gambling Addiction is real
So, do you have a Gambling Addiction? This post can help you with this problem. Too much of anything is usually not good for us, and this applies almost to anything. When we hear about addictions, we mostly think of addictions to different substances, which is indeed a serious issue. However, there is also another addiction, which is a lot easier to fall into โ it is gambling.
There are several reasons behind this โ first of all. Online gambling is becoming increasingly popular due to its availability. All you need to have is a phone and an internet connection, and you can already bet and play casino games.
Secondly, people often view it as a harmless leisure activity, rather than something you should be cautious of. If you combine these two factors and add in the โkickโ players get after their first win โ you will get a highly addictive activity, which at the same time can cost people all their savings.
Just having a quick look at statistics should already give anyone a clear picture of what is going on.
An article published by Cambridge University Press takes a closer look at gambling issues in Nigeria in 2020. A recent study shows that over 36% of adults in Nigeria gamble, and over 50% gamble daily. This has the potential to become a greater public health issue than substance addictions.
Even if you yourself donโt gamble and arenโt planning to start, this is still an important issue to be aware of because this can easily affect our close ones and family members without us seeing any signs of trouble.
What should you watch out for?
Several different things can eventually lead up to developing a gambling addiction. However, the fundamentals here are the same as with any other addiction. Gambling forces our brains to produce serotonin in large levels when we win.
Unfortunately, โthe house always wins,โ and a regular casino player will always end up losing in the long run. Our brains, however, will still be after that dose of serotonin, and this will force us to go back over and over again to see if we can get that one extra win that we long for.
We can all keep track of several key things to make sure our close ones donโt fall into this trap. This goes without saying that it is better not to start gambling in the first place.
- ย ย ย Do you or your close ones feel uncomfortable talking about how much money you/they spend gambling?
- ย ย ย Do you or your close ones sometimes urge you to go back and win back what was lost?
- ย ย ย Do you or your close ones postpone or cancel plans and arrangements to make more time for gambling?
You can answer the above questions, which will give you an idea if you should be concerned with the way things are. Additionally, there are different gambling addiction self-assessment tests, which you can take, and they will give you a more informative answer on where you stand with this.
These tests are usually free and anonymous, so you donโt have to worry about privacy as this is quite a sensitive matter after all. Don’t be risky with Gambling Addiction.ย
What steps to take if you find yourself or your close ones in trouble?
Gambling Addiction is the real problem, remember it. We have to understand that this is an actual addiction and treat it accordingly.
First of all, a person who ended up in this position needs support, so if you have family members or friends who are willing and able to support you โ donโt be afraid and ask for help.
If this is about your family members or close ones, you will need to try and put all emotions aside โ donโt judge and show acceptance and understanding. Spend time together and try to look for alternative rewarding activities that can lead to a similar serotonin response. This can be anything depending on your or the other personโs interests โ different sports, arts, charity work, music, and this list can go on and on.
To sum things up, this is an important psychological issue, and trying to force a person to stop will distance them even further, so the only correct approach here is to accept them and support them no matter what. Of course, seeking professional assistance is another important step, so if you have the possibility to resort to this โ by all means, do.
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