Gambling Addiction – What It Is and How to Fight It?

Throughout the years gambling has become a quite popular amusing activity that is practised by many people around the globe. First forms of gambling activities were known to us for a long time ago. In recent history, gambling has been banned or legalised in different countries around the world. Although it might be fun and amusing, certain aspects make gambling harmful to people. And while some jurisdictions allow it because it generates a tremendous income to the economy, other countries apply certain restriction that prohibits gambling because it is considered as a risk to the community.

What is Gambling Addiction?

In this article, we will focus on gambling addiction definition and the risks that this phenomenon hides. Due to its nature, gambling strongly attracts people since it offers them the chance to both have fun and win big. But sometimes the thrill of the game becomes addictive. The more people play, the more difficult it becomes for them to stop. People get more and more aggressive in terms of their eagerness to try their luck once more and hit the big price. Winning money is the essence of gambling, but sometimes it is not only the money that draws people in the trap. Gambling addiction has different aspects and reasons for it lie deep in people’s psychology.

Nowadays, with the development of the modern internet technologies, gambling has become more accessible than ever. At the same time, various studies of human behaviour concerning gambling have also evolved since problem gambling has been established as a phenomenon.

In its essence, gambling addiction is kind of a control disorder. Various gambling addiction statistics describe it also as a compulsive gambling or pathological gambling. Those who have such problems can not control their impulse to gamble even when it affects negatively the person that suffers from this disorder as well as his beloved ones.

What Are the Symptoms of Gambling Addiction?

There are no obvious visual signs related to the gambling addictions symptoms. This is why the ‘’hidden illness’’ is considered as a gambling addiction definition. Many players don’t think that they are at risk of problem gambling until things get out of control and the signs become more than obvious. Unfortunately, it can then be too late. Those who feel at risk have to take actions as soon as possible. However, some symptoms of gambling addiction related to the behaviour of the players may indicate the presence of such a problem. Below, we have outlined the most common ones.

Gambling Secretly

The need to hide the fact that you want to go to the casino or enter online gaming platform to gamble may indicate some kind of gambling problem. Usually, players don’t want to tell others that they are constantly gambling with the excuse that they will not be understood or that they want to surprise their relatives with a big winning.

Can Not Controll Your Gambling Habits

This is related to the inability to stop gambling once you have entered a gaming room. Many players decide to enter a landbased or an online casino to spend some time playing, but things get worse with every next bet made. Players start spending hours and hours without thinking for the time passed and even can not pay attention to what is surrounding them at some point. Even when they spend their last cents, they try to find out more money just to try out their luck once again just for any case.

Spend More and More Money on Gambling

Those who are addicted to gambling will usually spend every money they have to bet. Just like drug addicts, their weakness becomes the major source of losing their money fast. Instead of using the funds for the common things needed in everyday life such as food, drinks, clothes for the family and kids etc, players that are addicted to gambling are more likely to deprive their family of the regular domestic necessities.

Violent Behaviour and Denying the Problem

Some of the players who have problem gambling issues usually become violent if they have to take part in disputes according to their behaviour and addiction. The causes of gambling addiction usually lead to denying the problem and not accepting the opinion of the friends and family and the support they want to offer.

How to Stop Gambling Addiction?

Gambling addiction symptoms should not be underestimated because this is a serious problem and it can be very hard to fight this problem when it reaches higher rates. Fortunately, there are various ways to fight problem gambling and many tools can offer players gambling addiction help.

First of all, today the well-managed online gambling markets pay serious attention to players’ safety. For example, online gambling platforms offer their customers various tools for self-exclusion while they play their favourite casino games such as slots or the top Live Roulette casino games or poker variations. Customers can set their daily, weekly or monthly deposit limits and enable certain options when using the services of online casino sites or sportsbooks.

Many international institutions work following various standards to provide help to those players that feel at risk. Maybe, most of you have seen the links at the best roulette casinos in the UK that lead to institutions such as BeGambleAware, GamStop, GamCare and others. In most of the countries, where gambling is legalised and strictly regulated, gaming operators are obliged to offer the necessary safety features to provide a secure gambling environment.

But the main efforts have to be made by players themselves. Here are some of the things that players facing problem gambling might try and figure it out how to stop gambling addiction. Some of those things include voluntary changes in the players’ behaviour and have been examined in various gambling addiction statistics.

Join a Gambling Addiction Support Group

Many institutions are established with the cause to provide help to people who face problem gambling. Some of the organisations are established on a national level and provide services to people from the respective country, while others work on an international scale. Nonetheless, they can truly offer gambling addiction help and those who feel at risk can rely on them. Some of the organisations are working as a support group while others offer various other tools to assist those who are affected by online gambling addiction problems. At the regulated iGaming markets, the top-rated online gambling sites collaborate with such institutions to provide a safer environment to their customers. Here is a list with one of the most popular organisations that provide gambling addiction hotline to players:

Rely on the Support of Your Family and Friends

Players who have gambling addiction usually try to conceal this, or they avoid talking about it with their relatives. However, the support of the closest ones may have a crucial impact on fighting with gambling addiction. If people strengthen their support group of relatives – family members and very close friends and share them the problems, this might free your mind and help you overcome the mental aspects of the problem.

Don’t Use Gambling as an Excuse Because of Problems

Some people use gambling as a means to smoothen their feelings and get away from stress and troubles of everyday life. It is like a tube where you throw away any unpleasant energy and release yourself from the bad things. However, using gambling as a rescue tool leads to the situation when exactly gambling becomes the problem of your life without even realising it.

This is why it is good to try to take off the stress gathered during the daily routine by other pleasant activities that will be more relevant and useful. Those activities may include sports, talking with friends who don’t gamble too, finding some interesting hobbies or any other that you find interesting and distract you without offering you any temptations related to gambling.

Make Healthier Choces

Gambling involves money. People who are even short of money find out a way to use the last cent they have to gamble. This is why those who have gambling problems need to find out a way to focus their thoughts and actions toward more positive and useful things. This may include spending money on something else that still bring joy. Also, if they manage their time properly, they will be able to limit as much as they can the time spend to enter online gambling platforms. Or, you can rely on the trusted UK low stakes online roulette sites that are licensed and provide players with top responsible gambling tools.

Conclusion

What is gambling addiction? It is a serious problem that affects many players around the world. Luckily, in the countries where gambling is strictly regulated, players are offered a safer gaming environment and access to a different kind of assisting tools in fighting problem gambling. The causes of gambling addiction lead to problems not only to players but to their family and friends too. This is why gambling addiction should not be underestimated and serious efforts have to be made for fighting it. Since gambling is known for a long time ago, gambling addiction is not uncommon. This leads to the possibility of many successful programs to be established that allow players to fight this problem and get help with gambling addiction.

Frequently Asked Questions

If any additional questions may have occurred, then have a look at the section below. You will find some of the most common questions regarding gambling addiction that most people also ask. We have provided brief answers to offer you more detailed information on the topic.

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