Gambling too much can affect all areas of your life. Your work, your personal relationships, your health and your wellbeing. Having lack of control over it adds its own burden; anxieties can drag you down or drive you to face other addictive means to cover the feelings you experience. The financial burden can be overwhelming for the gambler and their loved ones. Gambling, like any other addiction, can lead to many other life issues and challenges.
Gambling and its consequences are seen in the media all the time. Still, you may feel alone in this addiction. Remember: you are not alone and can combat this addiction.
6 ways to stop gambling:
1. Find Out What Triggers Your Need To Gamble
Sometimes, individual therapy can help you figure out what creates or triggers the need for you to take risk. Gambling is related to risk taking behaviors such as sex addiction. The gambler is placing themselves in an unpredictable and destructive situation. Through therapy, and from your own experience, you can find and ultimately conquer these triggers.
2. Join a Support Group
Join a support group with others going through the same process. During support group sessions you can learn new coping styles and new ways of managing your life through this journey, feel less alone in what you are going through, and have the opportunity to be with others who understand what you feel, fear, want and need. aGroupForME offers online moderated support groups geared toward issues like this. These groups are small, normally 8-10 members, and hosted by a moderator to ensure everyone is the right group fit and follows the terms of use and community guidelines. These set scheduled support group sessions are utilize group video technology online; this means you can have your support session anywhere that works best for you. You can easily sign up for a group by visiting aGroupForME.com and start your journey to getting the right support.
3. Stay Strong and Take Action
Dr. Alison Smith, in her article on 5 life changing lessons from Tony Robbins, writes
Taking action is the key to attaining success because action is the only thing that will ignite progress. And, progress or moving forward is the key to cultivating happiness. Your brain needs to know that you are accomplishing something and moving forward toward your desire or goal. If you remain stagnant, you prevent yourself from observing evidence of progress toward your goal — and your brain translates that lack of evidence as failure.
4. Create Positive Habits
Structure your life around your journey to better habits. Start exercising, take up a passion, anything new you can add to your life and ultimately replace gambling with.
5. Practice Self Love
Gambling, and any similar addiction, is a self-sabotaging act. In the short term, it yields happiness; in the long term it makes one miserable. Practice self love to ease your need to gamble.
6. Be Open About Your Addiction
Being open to your therapist, and close friends and family will help you garner support and raise your personal standards. Having great support is key. If you need more support, aGroupForME.com can find you an online group that works for you.
