Gambling addiction can have different faces. If you spend more and more time playing, feel remorse later or gamble in secret - you may already have an addiction. There are several phases of gambling addiction development. How they differ and how to treat gambling addiction.
For many people, initially gambling is a way to relax and get away from private and professional problems. The problem arises when we start to put the game over family life and look for newer and newer ways to inject cash.
Four phases of gambling addiction development
There are four phases of gambling addiction:
- Victory phase - is connected with occasional playing, which in turn causes strong stimulation. Winnings motivate you to bet more and more often and play for more money. Big winnings make us start to risk more money.
- Losses phase - big bets start to connect with losses as well, so we start to look for ways to get back. In this phase we start to hide the addiction and wait for the next big win.
- A phase of despair - when financial and family problems grow, panic occurs. In this phase, problems such as a feeling of helplessness or depression may arise.
- The phase of losing hope - this is the last phase, which is connected with a sense of hopelessness and even suicidal attempts. Then you can either get specialist help or get into other addictions.
Treatment of addiction
Often a person who is only in the initial phase does not realize that he or she has a problem at all. She thinks that playing is something innocent - an easy way to spend your free time. Of course, the sooner an addict undertakes treatment, the better, but often such people decide to deal with the problem on their own. Sometimes it brings the desired results, but unfortunately not for long. When we can no longer control ourselves, often the abstinence from games we choose to play may not be enough. That is why it is so important to get professional help.
To get to know this disease accurately, to identify its manifestations and to be able to cope with them - this is the only way out of addiction. A temporary improvement in health, there is no guarantee that the problem won't happen again. That is why the right therapy is so important to be able to enjoy life to the full again.
Gambling addiction is a serious problem, as it puts at great risk the budget, family life and health of the addict. There are cases where gambling even leads to suicide, when an addict can no longer cope with the problems that arise, such as growing credit. Financial problems become even more serious because gambling addiction is often associated with neglect of work - which in turn can lead to loss of work. Therefore, undertaking treatment as soon as possible can save not only mental health but also life.
