Does Gambling Affect Your Health?

Gambling as a sport is not as common as it used to be but still some countries have legalised it. Gambling is the wagering of something of value or money on an uncertain occasion with an uncertain result, with the intention of winning either money or merchandise. Gambling therefore requires three ingredients to be present: risk, consideration, and a reward. As the sport becomes more developed and draws in more participants from all over the world, gambling has also become integrated into sporting culture.

One of the best ways to prevent the destructive influence of gambling is to recognise its negative effects and try to avoid gambling as much as possible. However, if it is unavoidable to gamble, then there are some healthy choices to make in order to reduce the risks involved. These healthy choices might include stopping the habit of gambling by using credit cards, stopping online gambling by blocking websites that offer gambling, avoiding too much spending or shopping, and avoiding the urge to gamble altogether by not gambling. It is important to recognise however that if you have developed an addiction to gambling, these initial efforts are only a first step and it takes real effort and discipline to get rid of your gambling problem.

One of the most obvious ways in which gamblers can fight off the temptation to gamble is by recognising the negative impact of gambling on their everyday life. Most gamblers will admit that gambling is a powerful force in their lives and this can be dangerous because gambling addicts tend to place a lot of emphasis on losing, particularly in the early days when they are still enjoying their addictive behaviour. This focus on losing can lead to a loss of self-esteem among many gambling addicts and can leave them feeling inadequate and worthless. Gamers who lose sight of their goals and fail to plan ahead and focus on their goals will lose their motivation and enthusiasm to succeed and be unable to maintain a healthy sense of self-worth. The danger for gamblers is that the more they lose the more they focus on their problem and lose sight of their goals.

Gamblers need to accept that they have a problem and not try to suppress it. Gamblers are generally intelligent people and most will have a clear idea that they have a problem but will try and deny it or hide it from others. This denial only fuels the problem further and the gambler is destined to fail if they are not willing to admit that they have gambling problems. Acknowledging one’s own gambling problem and attempting to work through it and overcome it can be a very difficult process. The best advice for gamblers who want to overcome their problem gambling is to see a doctor and get some professional help.

Another way in which many gamblers will attempt to cover up their problem gambling is to switch their credit cards and bank accounts over to smaller ones. Many gamblers use credit cards and bank accounts to pay for their bets and they will often transfer all of their winnings from these accounts to another account to avoid incurring additional charges on their credit cards or interest free loans that they may have taken out to pay for their bets. Unfortunately this does not make their gambling any less profitable and in fact it may make it even more so as they now have more of their winnings available to them to spend. This is why credit cards and bank accounts should only be used to cover the cost of one single bet and nothing more and if a gambler wants to use these cards and accounts to cover multiple bets then they should do it at their own risk.

If a gambler is unable to overcome their gambling problem then they should consider consulting a therapist who will be able to help them with their problem gambling. Gambling can cause a great deal of stress in a person’s life and it can affect all areas of the gambler’s life. Gamblers are usually known to gamble in front of other people and this will increase the chances of them having an anxiety attack while they are gambling and their chances of developing serious anxiety related conditions such as insomnia. So, if you feel that you have a problem with gambling then you should seek immediate professional help before it worsens.