by Lyvia Maloa
Gambling is a well-known addiction. Whether it be buying lottery tickets, opening blind boxes, pulling for characters in a game, or going in big with large amounts of money on sports teams. It’s a factor in a lot of people’s lives, whether they do it or know someone else who does it. A win big or lose it all game, known for the smallest ratios of winning. So why is it so addictive to over half of America’s adults?
The Science
Most people think it’s the rewards that attract players. You could win almost anything when gambling. A new character, the most valuable toy, but the most popular, is money. Although that’s not all you win, you also get a whole bunch of dopamine. Dopamine is known as the “feel good” neurotransmitter, activating when you do something good or something good happens to you. It gets triggered by a few things, working out, or doing something that makes you feel relaxed, but it can also trigger in alcohol or drugs.
When you first gamble, you’re testing the waters. Whether it be a form of escapism, or to see what the hype is about. But once you win? Then you chase that shot of dopamine, over and over and over again. It’s like a snowball rolling down the hill, at first the addiction is small – so surmountable that it’s like getting fast food – nice, but once in a while. As you continue to do it, the snowball becomes bigger, and the addiction becomes not a want, but a need. Thoughts like “I need to win” or “I need to see this through” become more common.
The possibility keeps you hooked, the chance of winning such a trophy that you’d stop at nothing to earn it. Then, the losses pile up. For some people, that’s when they learn to walk away, but for others, they do this thing called “loss-chasing”. The logic behind loss-chasing is that the farther you go, the more you need to make up, and the easiest way to make that up is by gambling more. There’s also the near-wins, when the win is so close “you can taste it”, keeping the addictive quality of gambling because you keep on chasing those big wins.
Help
Although it may seem daunting, there are ways out of gambling. The most straightforward solution is not start it at all. But, in this day and age, where all the games have “gacha” systems, or having to test your luck to get cute plushies, it’s kind of impossible to fully avoid. So, other ways to help are going to therapy, counseling, support groups, and finding strategies to deal with the cravings. This can be by distracting yourself with other things like sports or picking up hobbies, and reaching out and asking for help from your friends and family. Just know, it’s not all doom and gloom, and the people in your life should want to help you.
Psychiatry.org – What is Gambling Disorder?
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