Courage is fear transformed into action.
Anonymous
Hypnosis to Stop Gambling

Do you find yourself gambling even when you’ve told yourself you won’t?

Gamblers Lose

People who run gambling shops, casinos or websites make a profit. The profit doesn’t appear from nowhere. It’s because gamblers lose money.

There may be exceptions, just like the occasional smoker who somehow survives to an old age or drink driver who doesn’t kill someone. But just as smokers suffer and drink drivers kill, gamblers lose.

You’re smart enough to make sensible decisions in the rest of your life. How come gambling can outwit your good sense?

Gambling Trance

Like other addictions such as smoking, binge eating or taking heroin, gambling isn’t logical. It is driven by dopamine, a chemical from the same family as cocaine, that governs attention. It normally does a pretty good job of ‘sorting’ what you need to pay attention to and what you can ignore. But in gambling and other addictions, the system gets distorted and the brain can get swamped with internal messages directing your attention to gambling. You might have noticed some of its effects:

  • Euphoric recall – Memories of gambling in the past and prospects for the future seem attractive. You forget the bad bits.
  • Reduced logic – All your logical knowledge about why you would be happier if you didn’t gamble seems to disappear.
  • Junk thoughts – Illogical beliefs to support the addiction like superstitions, believing your luck will turn or that a series of successive losses make it more likely you’ll win next time.
  • Attention swamping – It’s hard to put the thought of gambling out of your mind.

None of this is a reflection on how intelligent you are. A gambling trance shuts down your thinking brain, inhibiting your logic.

That’s why gambling can seem a good idea at the time but afterwards you might be filled with anger or remorse that you fell into the trap again. You’ve shifted out of the temporary gambling trance and back into your normal, logical self.

Hypnotherapy can help you get out of that destructive gambling trance and to stay in your normal, logical self.

Gambling Your Life Away

We all have basic emotional needs and leaving them unmet can make people vulnerable to gambling problems – like gambling to forget about feeling isolated or depressed, for example. Although you get a ‘break’ from the problem, avoiding it can make it worse or make it last longer.

If you are using gambling as a sticking plaster solution for other difficulties in your life, just stopping gambling will automatically solve everything else. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with you. It’s just a question of getting back on track. Give me a call to get help.

Help Stopping Gambling

A first step you can take to stop gambling is to understand what is happening. Then the next time a gambling delusion takes over, you’ll be less likely to believe it.

Free stop gambling guide: You can download a thorough and helpful guide to stopping gambling by Brighton ex-gambler Jake Brindell here.

Hypnotherapy can help you break out of being pushed around by the destructive gambling patterns so you get back in control. You can contact me for help in Brighton and Hove on 01273 732690. My practice is near the Old Market in Hove.

If you would like to see me in person, find out about information me and my work as a hypnotherapist in Brighton & Hove here or give me a call on 01273 732690 and you can learn to be the way you want to be!