Does refusal to play (deprivation) help cure gambling addiction?

[uchegod-21]

Addiction means not being able to do without something. In the case of gambling, an addict will not be able to control his gambling habits. At this point where there is a total loss of  control, voluntarily depriving oneself could be a good step to healing. If he can eventually stay without it, it is a good one. His comeback into gambling will be different; this time he would be more careful not to make thesame mistakes he made the first first time.

I am still wondering how it is possible for one to heal from addiction without trying to distance himself from that thing he cannot control. If anyone has successfully defeated addiction without weaning, I would love to know how the journey went.

[arwin100]

I've read several articles in the past about weaning addicts from things that they are addicted to, I'd assume it works almost the same with gambling addicts. Anyway, I think the logic of "weaning from gambling" is to slowly reduce the gambler's gambling activity. From what I have read, it could help them cope and get used to not being able to gamble and have a better reaction when they completely stop gambling.

This is actually the least thing they could do since somehow doing such thing can slowly make them go away with those current challenges they are facing.

But if it happens that they find difficulties on executing this since there urge to gamble still there I guess they need to find other ways to get out in that situation. Maybe going in total hiatus might be the solution rather than slowly decreasing their activity since maybe with this they can slowly forget gambling. But still nothing happens since the situation became worse I think the best solution is to seek professional help just like what other people said here.

[Fortify]

I used to watch a lot of video interviews with addicted gamblers. They told me how they went through treatment and one thing struck me. More precisely, this thing is quite natural in relation to addiction treatment, as I understood later, but I did not immediately understand the logic. We are talking about weaning from gaming. I thought that weaning from gaming would most likely only work in very advanced cases, when the player is at the bottom of a financial crisis or on the verge of suicide. Then weaning from gaming would most likely work well. But if this is not the case, then what is the benefit of weaning from gaming? Perhaps the logic is to create positive habits in a person. But, in my opinion, this does not allow us to identify the main reason for gaming and work on it. In my opinion, the real reason is that a person has a naive desire to get rich on gambling (, but he does not have even the slightest competence for this and it is more than likely that they will not appear. This is if we are talking about sports betting. If a person wants to get rich on casino games, such as roulette, and does not want to know anything about risk management and money management, then weaning from games is really necessary. And what do you think, does refusal to play (deprivation) contribute to recovery from addiction or is it useless?

Deprivation is a strange word to use. You would normally say someone is deprived of oxygen, or food or water. These are things that people need to continue living, people don't need gambling and go for their first 15+ years of life without it. A better word to use is abstaining, as in making an active decision not to spend money on this activity. For people to reach the point of quitting it usually requires hitting rock bottom and in many cases losing a lot of money in the process. It also requires the person to accept that all money spent so far is lost and will not be recovered in the same way it was spent. That is a hard reality to face for many people and they refuse to quit for that reason.

[Hispo]

Addiction means not being able to do without something. In the case of gambling, an addict will not be able to control his gambling habits. At this point where there is a total loss of  control, voluntarily depriving oneself could be a good step to healing. If he can eventually stay without it, it is a good one. His comeback into gambling will be different; this time he would be more careful not to make thesame mistakes he made the first first time.

I am still wondering how it is possible for one to heal from addiction without trying to distance himself from that thing he cannot control. If anyone has successfully defeated addiction without weaning, I would love to know how the journey went.

It is possible to defeat addiction by decreasing the amount of hours and sessions we have in a determined period of time, that is true, but if someone is able to easily decide not to gamble anymore and manages to quit gambling relatively fast, then I would not say such person was addicted to gambling, to begin with.

Someone who is actually addicted to gambling would not be able to pull something like that off and take attention off gambling without professional help or intervention.

[junder]

Yeah, an addicted gambler can even find a way of rehabilitating him or her self, that is, he or she can try to keep aside all smart devices and also cut him or her self off from access to the internet, this is if the person in question is majorly addicted to online gambling, because I believe that online and physical gambling addiction are not exactly the same, someone who is addicted to online gambling may not enjoy paying same gambling physically due to obvious reasons, whole someone who is addicted to offline or physical gambling may find it absolutely uninteresting to play or gamble online.

But the good news is that both of this two can be rehabilitated in the same place, online gambling addict can be put in a place where he will no longer have access to smart devices and internet connection.
While the one who is addicted to physical or offline gambling can also be put in the same place where he or she will not longer have access to go play in any physical casino outlets or gambling/betting shops.

But after thinking about it, those addicted to online gambling seem to be more difficult to recover from than those addicted to physical gambling. Now, for those addicted to offline gambling, they have to be able to restrain themselves from going to physical casinos where they gamble, and there are still many other places to escape. I think this can still be done consistently, especially if their own home and the physical casino are quite far away. Meanwhile, those addicted to online gambling must avoid gadgets and the internet. But the problem is that nowadays gadgets and the internet have become like necessities of life, so it may be more difficult to recover unless they have a strong determination.

[DaNNy001]

The cure for gambling addiction requires a medical doctor and psychological healing. In some cases even drugs (but this related to serious issues).
Deprivation could not really cure anything. It could have a "binge effect" where after a long period without gambling... a player waste hours and tons of money on gambling again. I will not see any of these documentary... or at least I will not find other than "shows".
Serious issues of health requires medical doctors. Thats all.

Not all cases requires medical or psychological intervention, there are people that just need to discipline their mind that's all...addiction starts is all mental the moment you decisively take charge over your actions you would start noticing a change...a lot of people give up during these phase because they relapse but that's part of the journey, you can't get it right in a short time, it takes consistent effort

[o48o]

I used to watch a lot of video interviews with addicted gamblers. They told me how they went through treatment and one thing struck me. More precisely, this thing is quite natural in relation to addiction treatment, as I understood later, but I did not immediately understand the logic. We are talking about weaning from gaming. I thought that weaning from gaming would most likely only work in very advanced cases, when the player is at the bottom of a financial crisis or on the verge of suicide. Then weaning from gaming would most likely work well. But if this is not the case, then what is the benefit of weaning from gaming? Perhaps the logic is to create positive habits in a person. But, in my opinion, this does not allow us to identify the main reason for gaming and work on it. In my opinion, the real reason is that a person has a naive desire to get rich on gambling (, but he does not have even the slightest competence for this and it is more than likely that they will not appear. This is if we are talking about sports betting. If a person wants to get rich on casino games, such as roulette, and does not want to know anything about risk management and money management, then weaning from games is really necessary. And what do you think, does refusal to play (deprivation) contribute to recovery from addiction or is it useless?

Imho not every approach needs to be about "bigger root reasons" to explain your behavior. Even if psychotherapy-like treatment would work for you, it doesn't mean it's a best road for everyone.

There are other fields in psychology like occupational therapy that can help with concrete issues to help you get back your feet again. Creating positive habits can work as creating a new healthy baseline where you can start to fix your life.
 
You don't need always to reconstruct your psyche just to get rid of some bad habit and there's nothing wrong with some level of deprivation if you are doing it right. Because with addiction, it's literally doing something you are addicted to makes you lose control, because your addictive side takes over so why wouldn't you avoid it?

Deprivation doesn't work for everything, but it works with substances, or actions you take. It wouldn't work with something like intrusive thoughts, if you tried to not to think about something, because that's not how brain works. But you can find other things to fill your days and get meaningful life without something.

Some things are basic needs that everyone needs, but sometimes those needs are just filled with replacements, because wiring of your brain allows to use those replacements and re-route that wiring trough them, so you don't even know what you needed in the first place. Imho this is one of the deeper issues in addictions even though it's not consensus in psychology.

[hedgeh0g]

I can definitely say that a voluntary self-prohibition on gambling for oneself never works for any gambler. I have read so many times that many gamblers try to protect themselves from excessive addiction, but in the end, everyone comes to the conclusion that you should not ask someone to limit you from gambling, but rather understand the essence of the fact that gambling should no longer be a part of life.

[bakasabo]

I find it hard to answer if deprivation is a real cure from gambling addiction, or its a just a long pause from gambling. That is mostly because everyone are individuals, everyone are different, and the human brain is really not yet fully mastered. Scientists can not give 100% answer what makes a person to gamble, to return and at what point a person wants to gamble. A refusal to play can be a pause in gambling that lasts for many years, but not a cure from addiction.

[mak013]

And what do you think, does refusal to play (deprivation) contribute to recovery from addiction or is it useless?

First of all i think that the problem is that gambling addicts don`t know maths good. Also they don`t know hidden rules of the game(like RTP).
As for me the main help is to show their win chances of some simple examples. Something like "In this round of lottery there are 500.000 participants. In your city there 100.000 citizens. Your chances to win jackpot5 time  less to become a major". As the result they can understand that their goal is just a dream and stop the game themselves. Anyway the first step to stop is to understand that they break their life with such dreams.

PS. I`m not gambling man and don`t even understand what it means to be seriously addicted, so maybe i`m mistaken.

[Rockstarguy]

I find it hard to answer if deprivation is a real cure from gambling addiction, or its a just a long pause from gambling. That is mostly because everyone are individuals, everyone are different, and the human brain is really not yet fully mastered. Scientists can not give 100% answer what makes a person to gamble, to return and at what point a person wants to gamble. A refusal to play can be a pause in gambling that lasts for many years, but not a cure from addiction.

It may work based on the mindset and the decision that you want to make. For those who are tired of being addicted to gambling and are looking for a way to get rid of their gambling addiction, I'm sure that if one decides not to gamble and is willing to stop, it may really affect the person's interest in gambling after some time.

But someone who has an interest in gambling may not really change anything if they don't gamble for the long term because that interest has always been there. So, this is a matter of choice and what you really want from gambling. If you find something interesting and stop engaging in it, you will miss it so much that you can't wait to come back and continue with it.

[Promocodeudo]

Not all cases requires medical or psychological intervention, there are people that just need to discipline their mind that's all...addiction starts is all mental the moment you decisively take charge over your actions you would start noticing a change...a lot of people give up during these phase because they relapse but that's part of the journey, you can't get it right in a short time, it takes consistent effort

Getting addicted is a habit, so I will agree with that you said that addicted people can actually help themselves by working in their mind, you know what, when someone gets addicted, the person mindset become very porous that he can't control it, self control now becomes zero, at this point anything he is doing will be influenced by his mindset, the urge keeps coming once he sees money in his possession, so I also think that such person working in his mind alone may not be able to solve his problem, he will be needing peoplea help, he needs advise, if possible, he should go for rehabilitation, during this period of rehab, he should be meant to stay without having access to money in his account because if do, be might likely deposit from their, so every possible means to help such person should be applied.

[Alex077]

And what do you think, does refusal to play (deprivation) contribute to recovery from addiction or is it useless?

First of all i think that the problem is that gambling addicts don`t know maths good. Also they don`t know hidden rules of the game(like RTP).
As for me the main help is to show their win chances of some simple examples. Something like "In this round of lottery there are 500.000 participants. In your city there 100.000 citizens. Your chances to win jackpot5 time  less to become a major". As the result they can understand that their goal is just a dream and stop the game themselves. Anyway the first step to stop is to understand that they break their life with such dreams.

 Pretty interesting take, and I’d say you’re spot on...
I totally agree that many gambling addicts simply don’t understand the math behind the games, and showing them real probabilities can be eye-opening. Your lottery example is a good way to put it into perspective ,when people see just how small their chances really are, it might help them realize they’re chasing an illusion.
Obviously some people won’t listen, but giving them hard numbers at least plants the seed.... If they can internalize that they’re statistically guaranteed to lose in the long run, some of them might finally step back and take control.

[Awaklara]

And what do you think, does refusal to play (deprivation) contribute to recovery from addiction or is it useless?

If a gambling addict manages to refuse to play, it can certainly be utilized for the recovery process from addiction. However, the process for the gambler to refuse to play is not easy. It requires full awareness from the gambler, while in the case of gambling addicts, controlling oneself certainly requires assistance from others.
 I usually am willing to abstain from gambling for a while to stabilize my thoughts and emotions. I have been addicted to gambling before, and I decided not to quit gambling but to limit my gambling. The process is indeed difficult, but once I get used to it, gambling activities can be more controlled.

[r_victory]

To be cured, a person must distance themselves from whatever is causing them harm, in this case, gambling and online casinos. After being cured, the person must never gamble again. For someone who was once addicted, there is no safe level, such as a former alcoholic drinking "socially," or a former drug addict using only a little. Triggers must be eliminated from the life of someone who has been "cured" of any addiction.

[Oluwa-btc]

At first, deprivation feels like loss of excitement, boredom and emptiness.But it means staying away from triggers and cravings that'll likely cause harm and further sparks more indulgence.Therefore, deprivation usually contributes to healing from addiction because it resets the brain,reduces exposure and open room for more healthier habits and activities.

[Tonimez]

At first, deprivation feels like loss of excitement, boredom and emptiness.But it means staying away from triggers and cravings that'll likely cause harm and further sparks more indulgence.Therefore, deprivation usually contributes to healing from addiction because it resets the brain,reduces exposure and open room for more healthier habits and activities.

Yea, deprivation is a good tool for staying away from gambling addiction. It serves as a rehabilitation strategy which could be compulsory or intentional. When one is deprived of his chances of gambling when possibly he's already addicted to it, he initially gets nervous and keeps predicting games in his mind. If most of his predictions doesn't go his way when he had placed no bet, he begins to understand how important it is to avoid addiction. This continues until he becomes conscious of his activities and curtails his gambling involvement. Sometimes addiction to gambling is by chance and environment. When a gambler survives deprivation, he could be wiser or more addicted if it wasn't intentional.

[sompitonov]

At first, deprivation feels like loss of excitement, boredom and emptiness.But it means staying away from triggers and cravings that'll likely cause harm and further sparks more indulgence.Therefore, deprivation usually contributes to healing from addiction because it resets the brain,reduces exposure and open room for more healthier habits and activities.

I think that giving up the game for a while is always beneficial, because even from my own experience I can say that I did not play for years, but then returned as a completely different player. I even became interested in playing not for the money first of all, but for something else, for example, in order to understand the essence, try new strategies and be able to control myself like a pro. I love to follow the professionals in gambling, in particular in poker, because I try to understand how they act and what they do in order not to fall into tilt and save themselves. Although of course I understand that giving up the game will not help everyone, I would even dare to assume that a minority of the total number of players.

[mak013]

And what do you think, does refusal to play (deprivation) contribute to recovery from addiction or is it useless?

First of all i think that the problem is that gambling addicts don`t know maths good. Also they don`t know hidden rules of the game(like RTP).
As for me the main help is to show their win chances of some simple examples. Something like "In this round of lottery there are 500.000 participants. In your city there 100.000 citizens. Your chances to win jackpot5 time  less to become a major". As the result they can understand that their goal is just a dream and stop the game themselves. Anyway the first step to stop is to understand that they break their life with such dreams.

 Pretty interesting take, and I’d say you’re spot on...
I totally agree that many gambling addicts simply don’t understand the math behind the games, and showing them real probabilities can be eye-opening. Your lottery example is a good way to put it into perspective ,when people see just how small their chances really are, it might help them realize they’re chasing an illusion.
Obviously some people won’t listen, but giving them hard numbers at least plants the seed.... If they can internalize that they’re statistically guaranteed to lose in the long run, some of them might finally step back and take control.

Yep. And it would be nice to give really simple examples from real life. Like example with a major. If we would give them numbers - it may be difficult to understand: 0,01% is something that is difficult to imagine. But comparing chances to win the election and chances to win jackpot can show how small such chance.

[Dunamisx]

If we can adopt this as a measure to cure for gambling addiction, then its a perfect idea to take and also use, because addiction is not what can be left to handle with levity hands, we have to be more deliberate and serious in putting in place an effective measure to tackle it, such could be from what you have just suggested, deprivation, which is a means of having no access to gambling, if we can maintain our stand, we can achieve it.