Gambling is highly addictive. Millions of people struggle with a gambling problem each year. Unfortunately, many can fall victim to a gambling addiction and hurt not only their financial health, but their physical health, mental health, and relationships with others. There are various gambling addiction stages. In this article, you’ll learn more about the various stages of gambling addiction to look out for.
At Tikvah Lake, we are a luxury rehab in Florida that provides personalized mental health and addiction treatment to help patients lead healthier lives. Our drug rehab is committed to helping patients effectively progress along their recovery journey so they can achieve lasting sobriety. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your road to recovery.
What is Gambling Addiction?
When you think of addiction, the first thing that comes to mind is likely drug addiction, such as individuals abusing addictive substances. However, drug addiction is not the only form of addiction. Individuals can struggle with behavioral addictions too, like gambling addiction. While not all people who gamble necessarily struggle with a gambling addiction, it’s critical to understand that gambling can be highly addictive. And, gambling can put people at risk of falling dependent on gambling and hurting not only their financial health but their overall health and relationships with others.
Common Stages of Gambling Addiction
Interested in learning more about the various gambling addiction stages, keep reading below!
- Winning
Winning is the first stage of the gambling addiction stages. This is the stage where an individual may experience major wins when gambling which essentially feels like a reward reinforcing the behavior of their behavior, which is gambling. This makes the individual wrongfully assume that the euphoric feeling of gambling is good and will typically turn into them winning, which leads them to take larger risks and keep gambling.
- Losing
The next stage of the gambling addiction stages is losing. The losing phase is when the individual starts to experience losses when gambling. Unfortunately, people in the losing stage feel like they can break the cycle of losing because they think back to how they felt when they won. Many in this stage also think that losing doesn’t really matter, because they can make a big win and win all their money back, which pushes them to take bigger risks.
- Desperation
Desperation is the next stage where the individual is low on money and may start to seek money from loved ones to try and win their money back. This stage is where the individual starts to recognize all the damage they’ve done to their relationships and financial health, and they can feel a sense of guilt.
- Rock Bottom
Rock bottom, as the stage implies, is when the individual hits “rock bottom” and they’ve lost control of their addiction, which has significantly hurt their relationships with loved ones, their financial health, and mental health and well-being. Their gambling addiction at this point is the central part guiding their thoughts and addictions, and they feel hopeless in their gambling addiction. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction– help is available!
- Recovery
Recovery is the final gambling stage where a person addicted to gambling acknowledges that they have a problem and seeks help to overcome their addiction. At a treatment center, you’ll be able to safely detox from the behavior of gambling, learn healthy coping strategies, and progress toward leading a life free from the chains of gambling addiction.
Help Is Available
Now you know more about the various gambling addiction stages. From the initial winning phase that makes the individual feel a rush of euphoria because of winning to the last stages of rock bottom and recovery, it’s critical to understand the many stages of gambling addiction so you work toward overcoming your addiction.
Our caring team of addiction specialists at Tikvah Lake is here to help guide you along your recovery journey so you can achieve long-term sobriety. Addiction is an isolating disease that can hurt virtually all areas of your life for the worse. We provide comprehensive addiction treatment so you can receive the best possible care for your unique recovery needs. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you lead a healthier, happier quality of life.
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