What's the best time to talk to a gambler to convince him to slow down or stop

[DabsPoorVersion]

The best time to talk to a friend who is addicted to gambling, I think it is when he is emotionally exhausted or maybe when he is no longer interested to make a bet for the day. Sometimes, after having a win or a painful loss, any advice would feel like a criticism for them. But most of the time, I think this is the best chance to have a deep conversation that has a chance for my words to reach him.

This may also be the time when he needs a friend to listen to him. It may be true that those addicted to gambling is pushing other people away from them because they feel ashamed or judged. But when the time comes when he is the one inititated to have a talk due to various reasons, that's the best time to have a deep conversation when he feels being heard.

[iv4n]

What do you think is the best time to communicate with your friend who is addicted to gambling to convince him to slow down or stop gambling?

The best time is when you two are alone, and more importantly, you need to find the right tone... If you are too aggressive, it will end up badly for your friendship.

I think it's worth trying, especially if you care a lot about that person. The question is whether your words will actually reach them. Some people are not ready to listen, they simply don't wish to change... And we can't force someone to change, they have to make their own decisions, but sometimes we can plant the seed! Whether it grows depends on them...

[viljy]

If a person is instantly annoyed when they try to talk to him about his gambling addiction, then a doctor is already needed. Well, if a person takes such conversations calmly, then it is preferable to talk to him when he is in a good mood, for example, after eating or when he has won money. If he has just lost and wants to win back, then trying to talk about addiction will probably lead to him avoiding you in the future. In general, I do not believe that talking can overcome the onset of gambling addiction, especially if the gambler himself resists it.

[jcojci]

You can advice your friend when you see he start to change the mindset from have fun in gambling to making money from gambling. You can see this happens to your friend when he playing gambling more often than before so you need to remind him that is dangerous for him.

Maybe you can besides him when they play so you can tells them that is enough to play gambling. But you don't need to talk too much because they might feels that you disturb their fun. Maybe that is not best time buy you can still try to convince him to slow down or stop gambling if they end their gambling session and can thinks clear.

[davis196]

Those addicted to gambling will ignore you and even distance themselves from you, thinking that you will annoy them, and you are considered bad luck in their gambling session.
They don't take advice; they just want to do their thing, and they prefer to communicate with gamblers like them.

But as a friend, you don't want your friend to waste money on gambling and waste their life, so you keep the communication open because there will be a time when they are open to talking about their situation.

What do you think is the best time to communicate with your friend who is addicted to gambling to convince him to slow down or stop gambling?

Let's discuss this based on your experience and opinion.

I don't have such experience because I've never had friends, who are gambling addicts. My opinion is that, if your friend doesn't want to listen, you should to talk to his family. Maybe he will listen to his parents or spouse(if he's married). If he doesn't want to listen to his family, things are serious and I don't know how the situation would escalate. You can't save someone, who does not want to be saved. Maybe you should wait until the guy realizes, that's he too deep into his addiction, and he decides by himself that he needs to change something in his life.
This option is the worst, because his financial situation will get worse and he will drown into debt. I know that many gambling addicts isolate themselves and try to avoid speaking to their families. There's no easy solution for the problem.

[Kelward]

Idk, but I think it's better to talk to friends who gamble rather than make assumptions. You don't even need to know their financial situation. Just have a casual conversation and ask simple questions about their goals, experiences, etc.

Those kinds of discussions often happen more naturally while hanging out or having a few drinks, and people tend to open up and share their real thoughts and experiences. Just remember to be respectful and avoid being intrusive, especially when the conversation turns to money or personal finances.

If you are concerned about someone and you see them going astray it is better to have a conversation about it with the friend or family member, not wanting to offend them by giving them their space and keeping quiet doesn't help them, the least you can do is air you own view about their situation. As long as you're very polite in pointing out your concern that the person is addicted which is harmful and you're not also being judgemental while making your points you might get them to reconsider and start to change to gamble responsibly or quit. It's important to discuss such things in an environment where the addict would be relaxed like where you are having a few drinks or in a recreational park.

[Sim_card]

The right time is whenever, he decides to give you listening ears. If he's the type that expresses his feelings towards something and don't hide secrets, he will definitely discuss about his excessive losses and how it's affecting him emotionally. You can talk to him at that time. This is why it's good that when you are addicted or getting towards addiction, you seek for help by talking to people about it.

[Royal Cap]

Those addicted to gambling will ignore you and even distance themselves from you, thinking that you will annoy them, and you are considered bad luck in their gambling session.

This is what I have seen in reality. When someone is addicted to gambling, they try to justify their decision.  So they avoid people who remind them of reality and find their advice annoying.

What do you think is the best time to communicate with your friend who is addicted to gambling to convince him to slow down or stop gambling?

In my opinion the worst time to talk is when he is playing or excited about winning big. Rather in calmer times especially when he himself begins to share his frustrations or losses, it is easier to have a realistic discussion. That is, not to force him to stop but to gradually help him make decisions so that he himself understands the need for change.

[Smartvirus]

Those addicted to gambling will ignore you and even distance themselves from you, thinking that you will annoy them, and you are considered bad luck in their gambling session.
They don't take advice; they just want to do their thing, and they prefer to communicate with gamblers like them.

Let's discuss this based on your experience and opinion.

In all you do, approach does matter. The way and manner you approach a matter or topic and the timing of it defines the kind of reaction you would get either to be one of reproach or welcoming.

It would be completely wrong and out of place to try and advise a gambler to stop gambling at the time his making predictions or actively gambling. You set a negative precedence for his or her prediction in that moment and his going to feel it.

First, you try to understand the person, understand their struggles and complaints and you try to trail those steps towards their life decisions. You encourage him to take his accounting more seriously. You don’t necessarily point him to gambling being his biggest issues but other matters that would lead him to discovering just how gambling is hurrying his finances.

That way, you can hope that he would be more self convinced for a change than any other person would have advised.

[Barikui1]

One thing we all need to take into consideration is that it's not everyone that loves to be advised, because after advising such person, they will stay off you for life. If you are about to advice such a person, it's only better if you are aware that such person cannot stay of you, and in addition, you must be very close to him or her before taking the step of advice such person.

I believe that everyone including gamblers have their emotional windows, a period where most of them will open up of their losses and troubles, that's the best time to talk to him to slow down on his or her gambling harbit, because timing when giving out advice is as important as the advice that is given.

[TopTort777]

The best time to talk is when you catch him making another deposit after suffering a loss It is no use to talk to gambler when he is playing, because your suggestions will distract him and he will blame you for losing his bet if he loses. Let dude have his time and enjoy gambling. But when he is done and is planning to deposit more money, that will be the right moment to confuse him with saying if he really find it suitable to deposit even more; to make him question himself about how much he has lost and to think rationally.

[Somegory]

When the wound is still very fresh I suppose, that moment where they just lost a lot of money and it's noticeable that they are in great pain already, that's where to come right now.

Deep down they are already hoping for someone to come along and pull them up, you can't talk sense into a gambler who have not try or lost alot of money already, at this point they haven't experienced failure yet.

It's a waiting game,  let them get hurt first and that will open the door for you to come right in.

[danherbias07]

There's no best time. If he is addicted to gambling, it's best to get it done as quickly as possible. It will be more difficult to help him when he goes deeper into the addiction.

The mindset most of the time with those gambling addicts is chasing their losses. They cannot accept defeat and will use gambling to get back whatever they lost because it is the quickest way. It's difficult to pull them back to reality that the money is gone and gambling sites do not have pity on them.
If you see a friend in that trouble, might as well tell their parents about it. If they are not available, then the closest relative.

[Cityhunter34]

Those addicted to gambling will ignore you and even distance themselves from you, thinking that you will annoy them, and you are considered bad luck in their gambling session.
They don't take advice; they just want to do their thing, and they prefer to communicate with gamblers like them.

But as a friend, you don't want your friend to waste money on gambling and waste their life, so you keep the communication open because there will be a time when they are open to talking about their situation.

What do you think is the best time to communicate with your friend who is addicted to gambling to convince him to slow down or stop gambling?

Let's discuss this based on your experience and opinion.

Convincing someone that is already addicted to gambling or something else is actually the most difficult thing to do. They don't usually have time for you anymore because they always have this feeling that whenever they come close to you, you wouldn't say something else but about how they can stop entirely.

Honestly, I think it's just a matter of decision, because there are many addicted gamblers that don't want to change their local mentality about gambling. So I think it's just to try our best and leave the rest for them to decide, because they have the final say.

[The Founding Titan]

Probably after a major loss, they are usually more likely to listen or maybe not listen at that point but they are also more vulnerable meaning that they will be somewhat more sustainable to reason if they are not too angry, it might not really convince them to stop because they definitely tell themselves the same thing when they are in that position but still go right back to their addiction once the feeling passes but st least they will give you a listening ear.

[Emjay24]

What do you think is the best time to communicate with your friend who is addicted to gambling to convince him to slow down or stop gambling?

Let's discuss this based on your experience and opinion.

When he is happy and if you are not used to condemning him and his actions consistently. Addicts are very sensitive to criticism, they know quite alright they are headed the wrong way, but gets very defensive when they feel threatened  by your criticisms.

If you really want him to be open to your suggestions and acting on them, then you would be open to support him when he is down, show him some love when he is frustrated and show up for him when no one does, that way you'll make him feel indebted to you, he will in return take your suggestions with more seriousness and always want to do better in your view.

[Filicius]

I think that this topic could be linked to this other recent one because in both we are talking about trying to convince someone so he becomes aware of the need of slowing down. The difference is that, in that topic, the gambler was, in addition, aggressive.

As I mentioned there, I don’t think there is a best time to talk to them, but I would simply stay available for them and, when the time comes, be there to hear them, understand their motivations and, patiently, try to share with them a different perspective. But more that convince them, I think that they are the ones who must convince themselves.

[Tungbulu]

For me, I’d say the best time to talk to a gambler and try convincing them to slow down or stop gambling is when they’ve just experienced a very big loss that’s that has really drained them. Most of the time, when a gambler finds himself in this situation, they usually wanna look for someone close to talk to about their loss, especially if the person also gambles.

I have this friend who always tells me whenever he experiences a huge loss, at that point he’s always open for suggestions and advice, so I usually use that medium to advise him and that’s pretty much the only time he listens to me.

[Swordsoffreedom]

What do you think is the best time to communicate with your friend who is addicted to gambling to convince him to slow down or stop gambling?

There is no single right time. When a person is gambling, especially if they are hoping for big win or are in the mindset of making up for a big loss, no matter what argument you give them, they will not be of any use. Instead they will see your word as obstacle.

IMO, best time to talk is when they themselves are frustrated and mentally exhausted after loss. However I think that even then, rather than saying "You should quit gambling," asking questions like "What impact do you think it is having on your life?" could be more effective.

In fact, it will be more effective when you help someone find the reason for change within themselves. Yeah I am talking about motivational interviewing. Actually no one will like it if you give direct advice.

[abel1337]

It's hard to ask an addicted gambler to stop so you need to take time and give advice on a perfect time.

I believe that the best time to communicate with them to convince them to stop or slow down gambling is when they are at their lowest or they are on a big loss. You can persuade them during their weakest mental state, this makes things more easier rather than on their normal mental state where they are only focus on winning on their gambling sessions.

One wishful scenario would I think where I can put my best to convince him to stop is when he/she ask for help regarding the gambling addiction. They most likely realize it themselves and would want to quit gambling. All they need at that moment is the support and the reminder about the decision they made.