Science-Backed Ways to Manage Your Gambling Habits

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Effective Strategies to Control Gambling Urges and Overcome Addiction

Whether you’re betting on your favorite footballer scoring, buying a lottery ticket, or putting it all on black, many of us enjoy the occasional bet. The thrill and excitement that comes from checking whether you’re the jackpot winner is a pastime enjoyed by millions.

Most of us do it for some harmless fun. We know the odds are against us, we don’t mind losing the money, and we know when to quit.

But for others, it’s much more serious. They can’t stop themselves, even when it’s harming them financially and the odds are against them. Gambling addiction is a disorder recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). It’s characterized by recurring impulses and urges to gamble, where those suffering give gambling precedence over their interests and daily lives.

Left unchecked, it costs people their savings, their relationships and their health.

What starts as a harmless pastime can quickly escalate into an addiction that could ruin your life.

Why Do We Get Addicted?

According to Dr. Ricardo Twumasi of King’s College London, gambling addictions are akin to drug and substance abuse. The addiction stems from two separate reward pathways in the brain, which are linked to liking and wanting. “Liking” refers to the pleasurable associations we experience from an event, and “wanting” refers to the motivation we have from desiring that pleasurable thing.

According to Twumasi, gambling confuses these parts of our brain. When we place a bet the wanting remains constant, while the pleasurable feelings are reduced. So the addicted person has to engage in the behavior more to get their desired results.

This idea goes back to B.F. Skinner’s experiments in the 1950s, which slot machine design draws on. Pigeons pecking a key for food pecked far more when the food came at random than when it came on every peck.

Like the pigeons, you like the positive associations that come from hitting the jackpot. Every time you place a bet, you could achieve that desired end. Gambling addiction relies on the belief that you could win at any moment, so you keep playing.

Stop Thinking You “Create Your Own Luck”

According to a study by Matthew Browne and colleagues, one reason people with a gambling problem keep losing money is that they think they can develop a system that will guarantee their success. Some people think they can “create their own luck,” while others believe that if they play for long enough, then they are guaranteed to win.

But neither of these tactics works. This is the gambler’s fallacy: the belief that past results change the odds of the next random event. For example, some people think the more you play a slot machine, the more likely you are to win: these machines have to pay out at some point, and you’re getting closer to that.

That’s not the case at all. Whether this is your first attempt or your fiftieth, and regardless of what strategy you might have, the odds of you winning stay the same.  The takeaway from this is to stop placing bets on the assumption that, because of your previous losses, your betting is “bound to come good soon.”

Find Ways to Manage Your Stress

According to psychotherapist Noel Bell, stress, anxiety, and depression are leading causes of relapse in gambling recovery. For those who struggle to manage their emotions, gambling is an escape from reality. They use it to cope after a stressful day at work or an argument with a spouse. Or it could just be a way to alleviate boredom.

Whether you’re gambling or not, these triggers still exist. Rather than falling back into your gambling habits, you need to find healthy ways to deal with these daily struggles. This could come in many different forms. For Bell, physical exercise, meditation or talking to a good friend are good coping mechanisms to swap in for gambling.

Creating Financial Barriers

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, our desires are too strong, and we can’t help ourselves. For those suffering a severe gambling addiction, the above tips might be useful, but probably won’t be enough to stop them from placing a bet. In cases like these, we need to create barriers that protect our financial and mental well-being. An effective option is to create financial barriers: turn on your bank’s gambling block if it has one, get a debit card with a spending limit, or ask someone to look after your funds.

Creating that barrier prevents you from slipping back into your old habits. Rather than placing a bet without giving it much thought, you would have to make a conscious effort to do so. In cases where a friend is controlling your money, you would also have to justify this spending habit.

Use FocusMe

The problem with gambling today is that it’s always at our disposal. Online gambling websites never close. For that reason, when creating a barrier, we recommend using website blocker software, like FocusMe, to stop yourself from visiting gambling websites.

For gambling sites, set a long Multi-Day Plan and turn on Enforced Mode. Enforced Mode means the plan runs to its end; while it runs it cannot be stopped or weakened, only made stricter. Our step-by-step guide to blocking gambling sites covers the setup.

Seek Professional Help

While this article offers science-backed ways to tackle it, gambling addiction comes in many different forms, and the severity varies from person to person.

If you are struggling to cope, and gambling is having a severely negative impact on your life, we recommend seeking professional help. You are not alone, and there are several free resources you can use. GamCare offers free information, support and counseling in the UK, and the National Council on Problem Gambling runs the US helpline and chat.

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