Topic: With gambling, it's probably easier to quit cold turkey - page 5. (Read 789 times)

One reason for gambling addicts to stop for a moment after they realize they are losing and they don't have income for daily needs, apart from that I don't think they will realize to limit their gambling activities, so we have to act actively to warn friends who are already addicted to gambling to limit the use of funds in betting so that they will stop gambling once they lose their limited funds. I always remind my friends to get out of the gambling addiction zone even though they don't listen at the moment but they will realize that my warning will be useful for them one day.

I agree with you OP, it's better to cut yourself off, just like you do with an abusive boyfriend or girlfriend. You don't slowly wind down the relationship but leave it all behind one day.
Addictive substances are easiest to drop with a substitute, like you do with nicotine tablets, or weaker drugs to put off strong ones because if you don't do it you're going to be unable to function, your body will shut down, you'll be shaking, vomiting... Gamblers don't get these side effects so their problem is mainly in their heads. It's not the body that's addicted but the mind.

The first step to starting to make the addicted person start to forget the addiction is to completely distance them from the thing that is causing their addiction, in the specific case about gambling, and it is necessary to know the person addicted to gambling if she keeps playing in physical casinos or if she keeps playing in online casinos, if he says that he keeps playing in the physical casino then it will be necessary for his relatives to go to that physical casino and report that he is addicted and that the casino should ban him from that casino casino, if a person addicted to gambling says that he plays at an online casino, then the relatives of that addict must send emails to all casinos reporting that their relative is a person addicted to gambling so as not to allow him to create an account at any casino

Normally this type of attitude is taken accompanied by a statement from the doctor and the court, which is why it is necessary for people to always take their addicted relatives to the hospital and if they refuse to go to the hospital then the relatives must file a complaint with the police so that the case can be resolved. arrives in court and the judge orders them to hospitalize the addict in a place isolated from people, without access to the internet, without access to a telephone, without access to a computer and without access to money and documents for a period that the doctor determines, only then will a person gambling addict will be able to cure herself

Yes, I agree with @OP, who said that stopping for a moment, reflecting on our mistakes or sharing them with others to find solutions to the problems we face can reduce the burden we feel in gambling. It can also help us to reduce our gambling activities, which may still be gambling very often so that by taking a break, we can think about how we can continue gambling but not experience any problems. We can still do other things well. But it will not be easy for a problem gambler to stop, even if it is slowly because he needs to realize that he has gone too far in gambling. If he can realize his mistake, he can start consulting with other people to find a solution. But if not, he will not be able to reduce his gambling addiction, and it could even become worse than before.

As long as he keeps realizing that he wants to change and want to quit gambling he will slowly improve and there will come a time when he will decide to ask for help from the professionals, this is the first step before they finally realize that they needed a big step to change, slowly thinking to change is the start of realization that he will have to decide in the future that he wants to change and it will eventually if he keeps holding on to that thought.

It's hard to take gambling from a gambler who has no realization yet and realization will not just come suddenly it is a slow process, when they lose a big amount the realization will come that some change is needed and if they keep losing the realization will become huge and snowball and that's where he will ask for help and will improve his situation, healing, and cure is always a slow process and it's effective doing this way.

It ignores addiction recovery individuality. Think about Emma, a problem gambler. She goes cold turkey, but each relapse makes her feel worse. What if Emma takes a systematic, gradual approach? Reducing frequency and stakes while seeking therapy and support? Yes, abrupt cessation works, but isnt everyone's journey different? Assuming one size fits all is the problem. Gradual reduction under professional supervision may help individuals recover more sustainably by helping them understand and regulate their impulses. Cold turkey may seem like the only option, but human behavior is complex. A personalized strategy that combines professional support, personal insight, and compassion for the obstacles faced by the individual is optimal.

It would probably be the same as a heavy smoker who is advised to stop by reducing it slowly and experts say that will be difficult to do because he will still continue smoking and only reduce it occasionally.
It is impossible for a gambler who is addicted to stop immediately before he can go through treatment with a therapist because gambling has already taken over his mind, even though we read a gambler who reduces his gambling activities, of course, he is not already in the addiction stage, maybe he is an active gambler, but because he is not an addict, he still can control their thoughts when they have gone too far in gambling so can stop immediately.

People end up taking their lives after being so addicted to gambling, they can't stop and they can't walk away, the thing with gambling is no matter how much you win it will never be enough, that's why I always appreciate my effort of walking right away like I steal from the casino after I win some money, they will try to take it all back in fold.

For someone who was destined to have only a 100 thousand dollars all their live won't even know, and they will keep chasing the million dollar bag, imagine someone like this getting involved with gambling? They will believe that winning a million is more than enough and it's possible, the sad truth is they will never have it and they will waste their years away.

You need to consider yourself luck if you are not addicted to something, process addiction are so much harder to beat in so many ways, especially gambling and sex, you won't just quit easily, only those who haven't process it for too long find their way back easily.

I have to Google this cold turkey word as I seldom encounter this word so here it is
It applies to substance abuse, but you did apply it to gambling and I guess because there's a similarity between the two it depends on the gambler where he is comfortable he can do cold turkey or quit doing cold turkey as long as it will lead to curing his addiction, each gambler differs from one another and they have a pace that they want to follow where they are comfortable so both ways are good and desirable and can be implemented

I don't think that's the right way because I've tried to stop suddenly because something is forced, there will be resistance which makes it addictive and the habit will come back, believe in the process of gradually reducing it slowly to reduce bad habits that make the behavior become unhealthy. Well, when it comes to gambling, there are several of my friends who use this method and they really succeeded in stopping it completely by going through the process from time to time until they finally recovered completely.

I think we all know that getting rid of bad habits when gambling is very difficult, not as easy as people think, but I have felt that in a position like that, you can't stop suddenly, especially if you force it, it will only hurt yourself and make everything not okay. . try it slowly rather than trying to stop suddenly

This probably depends on the severity of the gambling addiction. For a serious case where someone has struggled quite a while to lower his gambling acitivties I would say that cold turkey is the best approach. Having failed several times before to stop gambling is a sign of a serious issue and that a new approach should be tried. In my opinion there is a difference between addictions from substances like alcohol or drugs and a gambling addiction. One type is something that our body got used to and there will be severe reactions when we don't take the substances anymore. That is why there are so many different type of drugs to try and reduce the effects of stop taking the serious addictive drugs. With gambling and other addictions that come from our brain, it's better to break the cycle we have going cold turkey. We need to find a way back to a daily life without gambling, maybe then after some time we could slowly start to gamble again without falling into our old patterns.

For many, I will say don't bother starting what you can't finish, as some started like they can handle gambling and they end up getting addicted, been satisfied with what you have is the bigger thing that anyone can have in life, as this will keep you happy instead than trying to get it all, you can still get it all, but using the hard work and smartness rather than throwing money at luck, I mean, what kind of greed and addiction can make some use up to $300k on gambling? And they say they are broke?

Someone decided to calculate how much he have spent on gambling and the amount is up a million dollars, like isn't that the goal of millions of people, to reach $1 million dollars and retire? The thing is many people lacks the patience of making money very slow to reach their goals, if you understand how tricky luck is you will be very caution with gambling.

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What I fear the most about gambling is getting addicted, that's why I don't want to get rich from.gambling, I believe it will mess my sentimental up, I would probably want to live the rest of my life in gambling, and that I don't want, so I manage to confuse myself that using a small amount is what I will stick with, there is no magic in gambling that will want the best for me, if you can't even control some things in life you should either learn to risk little on gambling or just stay away.

Gambling addiction happens to be the worst kind of addiction with no other ways of redirecting the addiction. Unlike the physical feelings of pain in some parts of the body, gambling addiction requires mental stability to get hold and stop gradually. If a gambler isn't prepared to stop gambling, even when he's not addicted it'll take some time until he'll think about stopping gambling. The same applies to the addicts. Like I said, the addiction is mentally dealing with the gambler, and sometimes they don't feel the impact and how low in funds they've gone. Instead, they try to gamble more and engage in illicit activities, lying to family members, to raise money to gamble again. Running out of funds doesn't stop addicts from gambling. It can only stop a nonaddict. When a person is addicted to something, nothing stops them, they can't sleep or have fun without participating in gambling or whatever it is that led them to addiction. That's why we hear numerous stories of gamblers who hurt themself after taking loans to gamble.

A lot of addicted gamblers require lots of external help to change. There is nothing their self-control can do to help the mental problem addiction has caused the player. Do you know that sometimes the gambler gets to understand he's addicted, but feels confused about the gravity pushing him to gamble any time he's got money in his palms? Gambling addiction seems like the worst form of addiction, as the addict thinks he's doing something that could fetch him money. The other addictions don't promise money to their victims, hence they can restrict their emotions from repeating that same thing. Some drug addicts, wake up one money and decide to stop taking drugs. But, a gambling addict is unsure whether he's addicted or not. So, while the addicts work towards going cold turkey, the newbies should endeavor not to fall into the same trap, in their course of venturing into gambling.

slowly quitting is not the best idea for every addiction , I once an chainsmoker and yes I tried many times to less my smoking but ending ? i comes back to taking more again .
But when i finally have the guts and dedication, I stopped it right away and completely , throwing all my remaining cigarettes and all my lighters and ashtrays to make me out of the system , same as I keep distance to people that smokes so I will not smell the cigarettes again and its successful after couple of months? and now for more than 7 years that I never have even a single stick.

This can be apply also in gambling that we should not slowly but to quit gambling all the way but the process is really hard and tough but that is the task to make it happen.

Oh yes. A chronic or relapsing disorderly characteristics of a gambler is a habitual behavior that is mere adopted and not an inheritance.
So, letting go off the negative enforcement as an addicted gambler is not something magical of a sudden occurances neither is it a permanent undoable.
If must be overcomed with a realistic expectations, then it must be challenged with a mean full momentum that is gradually enhanced to a certain levels to another while the striving to do away of the gambling addiction becomes an opposing challenge of your aims to limit gambling or to quit gambling.
Basically an unrelenting efforts to the realistic achievement is not limited to gradual process.

The reason why someone become a gambling addict is money, they want to earn money quickly without any effort. So the best solution is give them money by doing a small task, is there anyone willing do that? nope.

It's not possible for them to quit gambling completely when they haven't yet find another way to earn money, they can only change after they realize making money needs process.

a cigarette addict can stop when he experiences something that has a bad impact, for example a cigarette addict suddenly stops smoking after feeling pain in his chest and this is the same as a gambling addict who will stop immediately when something happens such as losing all valuables and money lost in gambling and that when he will stop suddenly and have the thought of stopping not to gamble anymore and only by stopping immediately can a gambling addict really get rid of his addiction because if it is done slowly, people mindset usually changes quickly and they can start gambling again.

Problem is too short a word to describe why its a problem for that person, to fix the ailment you are going to have to self define how it became a problem especially.  I would not expect someone to walk away from problem behavior without underlying all the reasons and factors, doing that all by yourself might be too much.   A book talking to people or just hearing the situation of others might help alot more then the attitude of never again.    Also if there was a habit or problem presumably it took up alot of time, the easiest observation is you will need a new hobby or be left nothing much left to do.  Trying to resist repeating yourself while replacing it with nothing would be a mistake.

That would simply lead them to other types of activities no? Such as cigarettes or alcohol even since they inhibit the mind from thinking too much. If it was guided instead with them being able to pick an activity or a hobby that they would enjoy without damage to their minds or living, wouldn't that be better instead as an alternative compared to outright stopping gambling immediately?

Sure I guess quitting immediately may be effective for some but it's not without reason why research recommends slowly getting out of an addictive mindset instead of trying to remove it completely. Majority of the time relapse occurs in those cases and they inevitably go back to an even worse state than they were before stopping after all.

There’s no winding down when you’re quitting/recovering from gambling addiction. What you’d do if you “wind down” is just add more fuel to the fire and aggravate the situation. Maybe even put the problem gambler in a much worse loop cause all this is to him is more chances to take the win.

Cold turkey’s the way to go. The gambler wouldn’t have any chance to “reclaim” his losses, and at the same time further damage is avoided with less worries.

If you’re seeing someone slowly descending into gambling addiction, don’t let them have another game, do what you can to stop them from ever gambling right then and there.