Psychological Tricks of Gambling
The money. The adrenaline rush. The intensity.
Gambling can give you all that. And you think you can handle it. Here’s a test to see if you can:
Which one of these sounds more like you? When someone who doesn’t have a gambling problem loses money, their brain tells them to stop playing. But in someone who does have a problem, losing money actually triggers the urge to keep playing - it’s a phenomenon called chasing losses, and “they” know how to manipulate you into doing it.
For example, those jingle sounds and lights in the app or in the casino - they purposefully vary the length and size of them to increase your excitement and make you overestimate how often you’re winning. Also, those lights and sounds are happy and up-beat because they boost your mood and make you feel excited and hopeful that you could win.
When you don’t win, they purposefully give you near-misses because research shows that almost winning triggers a more substantial urge to play than even winning itself.
They give you just enough wins to make you think you’ve got skills and can beat chance, but the whole time they’re making your brain their puppet to get you to play longer than you planned and gamble more money than you planned.
Signs of a Problem
Approximately 10 million people in the United States are addicted to gambling, and the growth of sports gambling has exploded recently. Americans have wagered over $200 billion in sports gambling since it became legal in 2018. Additionally, the number of people regularly betting on sports increased by 80% in 2021.
Gambling can be enjoyed moderately, but it becomes problematic when people keep playing despite experiencing negative consequences.
Some common signs of a possible gambling problem include:
When someone has trouble setting or maintain limits about how much time and money they want to spend.
They neglect their other responsibilities and activities because they’re preoccupied with their gambling activities and are beginning to lose control.
They need to gamble with increasing amounts of money to get the same thrill.
Young people are even more susceptible to gambling problems. According to national studies, 1 in 20 college students meet the criteria for compulsive gambling, which is more than double the rate of the overall adult population.
Even more concerning, between 60% to 80% of high school students say they've gambled for money in the past year, and 6% say they’re addicted, according to the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors.
Perhaps the most discouraging statistic of all is that more than 60% of people reported wanting help with their gambling problem, but only 25% of those people actually sought help.
Furthermore, there’s a growing recognition lawmakers and health departments that gamblers need help, but the explosive growth of gambling activity requires leaders to increase gambling prevention programs and awareness at a faster pace.
The Root
If you think you may have a gambling problem, what's really going on is you’re probably using gambling as an escape from things like boredom, sadness, or intrusive thoughts. It’s the same reason many people use drugs and alcohol.
Your role is to be honest with yourself - and being honest with ourselves is usually the hardest part. It takes guts, and it’s painful. But it’s worth it. You’re worth it.
Once you’ve gotten honest with yourself, tell someone you trust that you’re at least thinking about changing. You don’t even have to be 100% committed yet. Just bring someone into the process with you. The chances of success skyrocket when we have someone walking beside us to be objective, encourage us, and call us out when we need it.