Well Done For Taking The First Step On Your Journey To Recovery
Our team can support you in this journey by providing the most up to date treatment designed to help you overcome your gambling problems. Making the decision to begin treatment can be both “daunting” and “worthwhile”.
When gambling has become a significant part of your life, we will work closely with you to help you progress through treatment at your own pace. Rather than just talking about gambling, the treatment we use will reprogram the way your brain responds to gambling triggers using simple techniques. The desire to gamble will then slowly disappear over the short course of treatment. As one client said “The urge just fizzles away” and loses its power. Once the urge goes, you will then be able to think clearly about whether or not you can really afford to gamble. People who complete the gambling treatment program describe having a meaningful life without the desire to gamble. Money has value and overtime trust can be re-established with the people close to you. Call Now to talk to one of our team members who can answer your questions and book you in to have a confidential and free chat about how this would work for you.
Support Is Important
It takes courage to reach out and ask for help. Reading this is a first step towards breaking the gambling cycle for good. Once gambling becomes an automatic response, it can be exhausting trying to manage this alone. When people speak to our team, we help them to understand why it is so difficult to stop gambling, once they are caught in this merry-go-round. We can help you get off this merry-go-round for good and have a life free of gambling, without the ongoing temptation that pulls people back to gamble.
It’s Not Just About The Gambling
People gamble for many reasons. People talk about gambling becoming a distraction, some clients say their worries just disappear as they become “fixed” on gambling. People say being in the gambling “zone” gives them a “timeout” from past traumas and feelings of depression. Our team will work with you to help you understand why gambling has become a temporary escape from the issues in your life.
We can help provide the treatment you need to deal with these other issues to make a full recovery from gambling. Call Now and chat to one of our team about how we can help you. We have a range of free and confidential psychological services available to help you.
Different Types Of Gambling
It doesn’t matter your age, gender or kind of gambling.
Here are some examples of the different types of gambling we have helped people to recover from:
• Casino-style cards games (Texas Hold’em, Blackjack/21, etc.)
• Other card games
• Dice games
• Electronic games (online poker, slots or keno)
• Betting on sporting events (Football, Baseball, etc.)
• Lottery tickets or “scratches.”
• Raffle tickets
• Bingo
• Gaming Machines/Pokies
• Online Gambling
• Fantasy sports
Signs Of A Problem
There are many signs that gambling may be a problem or beginning to become more risky in a person’s life. A typical sign of a developing problem is your gambling becoming frequent, with no breaks or days without gambling, and gambling being thought about at all times of the day – in short, when gambling becomes much more important, a bigger focus, or more central in a person’s life that it starts to take priority over other activities and responsibilities. Another sign is a growing feeling of wanting to spend more money on gambling activities, or wanting to chase what was lost in previous gambling sessions.
If you feel that gambling is creating issues, book for an assessment, talk to someone, phone PsychMed and make an appointment.
Making a positive step forward before your appointment
Well done that you have made a step forward by having an appointment with one of our team. We look forward to meeting you and helping you beat gambling for good. Here are a few things you can do while you are waiting for your appointment :
-> Seek support from someone you trust. Let them know that you have made this step forward.
-> Limit your access to money.
How Problems Develop
The cause of problem gambling is complex. Research tells us that people vary a lot in their level of risk of developing a gambling problem – some people can gamble without it being an issue, whereas others are more susceptible to struggling with gambling at a safe level. Being depressed or lonely, growing up around gambling and having lots of opportunities to gamble, being a heavy drinker or other substance user, or having a particular biological predisposition to taking risks or being bored easily can all contribute to making a person more vulnerable to problem gambling. People can develop problems with gambling quickly and particularly so when a player has a big win or jackpot early in their career and there is not much else that is fulfilling or exciting in their life.
Impact On Others
Problem gambling does not only affect the gambler. Problem gambling places a major strain on couples, on families, and on our society at large. Many problem gamblers have relied on someone, like a parent or partner, to help them out financially due to gambling debts at some point in their life, while also finding it hard to be completely honest about the extent of gambling losses. This can contribute to feelings of shame and guilt and a sense of stigma about gambling, which makes it hard to seek out help or other support.
Risk Assessment
Problem gambling can often present with many other risks in a person’s life. Some of these risks, like depression, suicidal thoughts, binge drinking – can become worse as gambling becomes riskier. The earlier that a gambler can seek treatment as problem gambling develops, the better the outcome will usually be and the easier it will be to tackle many of the associated problems that can occur with gambling, including relationship conflict issues, financial problems, and depression and anxiety. It is also never too late to seek help.
Stages Of Change
Psychological treatment of problem gambling is about developing a strong partnership between the clinician and the client (and their support network if possible). Therefore, the success of treatment will depend on the extent to which the client feels ready and motivated to make positive changes in their life. A therapist can help to talk about some of the mixed feelings and barriers to change in addressing a gambling problem. It is often easier to work toward goals for treatment when discussing these with someone you trust first.
Online Gaming
Gambling is increasingly available in places other than casinos and gaming rooms – it is now possible to gamble on many different activities from your living room using a computer, smartphone, or similar device. The accessibility and convenience of online gambling makes it a very attractive gambling prospect, but also a very risky one for some players. It is important to remember that the online gambling landscape can be like the Wild West – very few regulations, and many unscrupulous operators that do not have the player’s best interest in mind.