How To Cope With Gambling Loss
Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety to Relieve the Gambling Urge
Gambling problems are related to other underlying issues such as anxiety, stress, and difficulties with impulse control or substance abuse. Easy-to-apply strategies can end the impulse to gamble, as well as avoid slips and relapses.
Too much time spent on gambling can also lead to relationship and legal problems, job loss, mental health problems including depression and anxiety, and even suicide. Myth: Having a gambling problem is just a case of being weak-willed, irresponsible, or unintelligent. Coping with guilt and shame after gambling loss. Yi S(1), Kanetkar V. Author information: (1)Department of Marketing and Consumer Studies, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. Syi@uoguelph.ca In this study we examined the relations between guilt and shame and coping strategies in response to gambling loss. Over time, such new interests evolve into coping mechanisms that help people more effectively manage anxiety and gambling. Get started by thinking of at least five enjoyable activities that have nothing to do with gambling, drinking, or substance abuse. This might include watching TV, working out, or gardening.
Gambling and anxiety
Many people gamble as a way of managing anxiety. As they gamble, people often report being separated from their anxious feelings or projecting their feelings of anxiety onto the excitement they feel when they partake in their gambling activity of choice. As a result, gambling can work its way into the fabric of their everyday life, and the impulse to gamble can overwhelm the rest of their lives.
Thus, for many gamblers, reducing anxiety is a prerequisite to making any changes in gambling behavior. Fortunately, there are several techniques that can make a tremendous difference in alleviating anxiety.
Learn to relax
Real relaxation is a physiological and psychological response that is the opposite of anxiety and panic. It’s accompanied by a slowing of the heart rate and lowering of blood pressure, deeper breathing, and a calm, even state of mind. When experienced on a regular basis, its effects are cumulative. One of the most powerful ways that people can counteract anxiety is by learning to relax. It isn’t possible to be relaxed and anxious at the same time. This means more than simply plopping down in front of a television or surfing the Internet, although on the surface, those activities can seem like they’re relaxing.
If the level of anxiety is so high that it makes people physically and psychologically uncomfortable, taking active steps to relax can offer them relief. Relaxation exercises, such as those outlined below, teach people to identify worry triggers, defuse them, and break the cycle of anxiety. It’s best for people to commit to daily practice, even if the exercises don’t appear to help at first, because the more people do these exercises, the more positive effect they will have.
Being able to relax is a skill, and like any other skill someone wants to develop, it gets better with practice. The more people practice, the more they will become aware of the ebb and flow of anxiety. That way, as soon as they feel its presence, they can target it. There are dozens of “mind and body” approaches like yoga, tai chi, and meditation. These practices blend deep breathing and relaxation strategies with body awareness techniques that help people recognize when they are becoming too tense. Many of these are ongoing practices people can try at a health club, a studio, or even at home.
Before people can learn to relax, it is helpful for them to get a handle on what is making them anxious in the first place. Greater awareness can help people anticipate these feelings, which in turn allows them to recognize the need to employ a relaxation strategy. It also helps to understand which relaxation strategies are the most effective. That’s why it may be helpful to keep a journal for at least one week. Individuals can use it to write down what makes them anxious and how they respond to that anxiety. After a week of making journal entries, people can usually identify anxiety triggers and patterns of response.
Then it’s time to identify other ways of responding that might alleviate rather than fuel anxiety. Here are three excellent relaxation exercises to get started.
Practice progressive muscle relaxation
The purpose of this exercise is for someone to learn body awareness and the difference between tense muscles and relaxed muscles. By slowly tensing and relaxing each muscle group in the body, people can teach themselves the difference between a relaxed muscle and a tense one. Once people learn this skill, they will have better body awareness in situations that make them tense. Over time, and with continued practice, they will learn to cope with tension by training their muscles to relax while calming the mind. After all, it is not possible to be tense and relaxed at the same time.
How To Cope With Huge Gambling Loss
Someone can get started by setting aside 15 uninterrupted minutes in a quiet, distraction-free location. It may help to dim the lights, or to sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
The idea is to hold and squeeze each area of the body for 15 seconds (about 10 slow counts), feeling the tension build up. Then release the tension and completely relax, allowing the tension to flow out of that area and away from the body. For every muscle group, the person doing this exercise should take a moment to notice how different it feels when it’s tensed compared to when it’s relaxed. Repeat the exercise at least once, and as many as three times, before moving on to the next area of the body.
Try the following sequence:
- Hands: Squeeze them into fists and then relax.
- Front of upper arms: Tighten all of the muscles in the front of the upper arm and then release them.
- Back of upper arms: Tighten all of the muscles in the back of the upper arm and then release them.
- Shoulders/neck: Raise both shoulders and tense up the neck before dropping both shoulders and releasing the muscles.
- Forehead: Raise both eyebrows enough to wrinkle the forehead and then lower both eyebrows to relax the forehead.
- Jaw: Clench then release both the upper and lower jaw.
- Cheeks: Make a forced smile, then relax it.
- Abdomen: Tighten the belly and lower back muscles, then relax them.
- Upper legs: Stiffen and straighten the thigh muscles and then relax them.
- Lower legs: Tighten the shin muscles by pointing the toes to the ceiling, then relax the feet and muscles.
- Feet: Curl the toes and tighten the muscles in the bottoms of both feet, then uncurl the toes and relax the muscles.
Breathe deeply
Slowly exhaling gives both the body and brain a signal that helps them to relax. Practicing this type of deep breathing can help people to breathe like this even when they are not actively engaged in this type of exercise.
People should aim to set aside 10 uninterrupted minutes for this exercise, preferably in a quiet, distraction-free location. It may help to dim the lights and to sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
They can start by placing one hand gently on the chest and one hand on the abdomen, just above the belly button. Inhale deeply through the nose or through pursed lips for one slow count. The lower hand will move out as the belly and ribcage expand. (The upper hand should not move at all.) Next, exhale completely through the mouth for one slow count. The bottom hand should move inward as the belly and ribcage grow smaller during exhalation.
Once people learn this technique, they will understand how it feels to breathe evenly and deeply rather than taking the short, choppy breaths that often accompany anxiety and distress.
Try a visualization exercise
Another helpful technique is to combine visualization with deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation. Visualization can also be used on its own to quell anxiety.
A classic visualization exercise is to imagine a safe, peaceful place or situation, using all five senses to conjure up as much detail about it as possible. This helps draw someone’s attention away from tense negative thoughts and urges.
For example, people could imagine taking a leisurely walk on the beach. With practice, they can actually see the ocean, sun, sand, and birds. They learn to hear the waves crashing against the shore or the seagulls cawing. They can feel the warm sun on their skin and the soft sand beneath their feet. They can smell and taste the salty air.
How To Cope With Gambling Losses
Find replacement activities
Distraction is better than deprivation. In other words, one of the best ways people can relieve anxiety and minimize urges to gamble is to do something else, an alternative activity that is positive and enjoyable. This focuses attention away from worry, reducing the need for the familiar gambling pattern.
Finding a replacement activity may involve taking up old hobbies or finding new interests and activities. Over time, such new interests evolve into coping mechanisms that help people more effectively manage anxiety and gambling.
Get started by thinking of at least five enjoyable activities that have nothing to do with gambling, drinking, or substance abuse. This might include watching TV, working out, or gardening. The key is to find activities that are truly appealing.
How To Cope With Gambling Losses
Be patient
As people seek to change their relationship with gambling, they will need to sort out many aspects of their lives, gain new perspectives, and acquire new skills. It is typical that people will make headway and then take a few steps back. It’s important to remember that making any significant change is a bit like going on a long journey. It takes time.
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With addiction, gamblers don’t often realize the number of their losses until they aren’t left with any amount of money to gamble on. Even online casinos have become more addictive than land based ones because of their convenience of being played anywhere anytime. A member system online casino scr888 slot game download in devices has made it more convenient, and hence, addiction is seen as its consequence.
However, before getting into gambling, gamblers need to do more research into the statistics of the games they play. The casino does not make money via players losing, rather by not paying true odds when they win. Goldfish slots offer to spin five goldfish on a single line in the game, which is worth the equivalent of 1,000 paylines. This attracts more gamblers, and they fail to realize where they’re losing. It becomes too late when they realize, and they go through a mentally disturbing phase. Certain things need to be followed and kept in mind after one has lost much in gambling.
Give a pause on gambling
Whether one chooses to cease gambling forever or for a specified time depends on the loss’s circumstances. If losses are beginning to pile up, then seeking to solve the gambling losses by more gambling is not the solution. It is better to give a pause on gambling if one has suffered a large loss.
One could divert the mind from such gambling losses by engaging in different activities like joining an amateur sports team, going to the gym, or start a walking or hiking club. These gamblers need something to replace the excitement that they used to get from gambling. These activities may not give the thrill as gambling does, but it will help keep the mind off gambling and losses. Even taking a break for a few months may help their game to improve as time passes.
Fixing the budget
Sometimes, overspending is the prime reason for such massive losses. But, if gamblers fix an amount that they can spend ahead of time when their brains are not in the game, this may help them stay on track.
Preparing a budget to figure out how much money one might spend each month on gambling will help reduce losses. Gamblers should not spend money on gambling that they don’t have and then get mad at themselves when they run out of money for other monthly expenses. A bankroll helps them save small amounts of money. They can then gamble without taking money from their bills. If gamblers know how much they can spend going in and stick with it, they will feel better about gambling.
New gambling strategies
Once fixing a budget in mind, gamblers need to figure out how to get the most amount about gambling, which means they need to start all over. They need to study each form of gambling that they have tried. They probably need to spend a considerable amount of time perfecting a new strategy. They need to study the game they want to play, learn it backward and forward, and practice until they can play well. They may find that these games are better suited for them with practice and strategy than the games they had played previously. Going through LottoAsian and playing the lottery online can give a brief idea about the strategies that need to be followed.
Setting goals
If someone has decided to join the casino again and has decided to play a different game, the further step is to establish winning and loss goals. One needs to have the goals firmly in mind before walking back into a casino.
In a fresh mind about gambling, gamblers also need to establish a bank account different from their other bank accounts, which is used only for gambling. In the case of separate bank accounts, they won’t be prompted to use their other accounts to pay for gambling. If they stick to using only what’s in their gambling account, they lose only what they can afford to lose.
Along with this process, keeping a record book of the games that one has won or lost is also effective. There is also software to keep track of these transactions. It helps to figure out if there are any patterns to respective wins and losses, and in the case of multiple games, which games one is better at.
Conclusion
Many therapies suggest lots of ways to create a plan to stop gambling, get clear of any debt that may have incurred, and remain free from addiction. There are also gambling problems helplines available 24/7 and are 100% confidential for those seeking help for a gambling problem. Some people can cope with gambling losses independently, but others need assistance to address their gambling issues. It may be that there are groups in an area gamblers can go to for help to decide if they have a gambling problem. Family members can also receive help and support. Though gambling addiction is a serious issue, it can be overcome with work and support.