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Regardless of your status in life, you’re not exempt from problems and challenges. It may be a massive gambling loss, losing a job, or a bad financial situation. The big question to ask is, how do you cope with gambling loss?
Coping mechanisms can be healthy and unhealthy. Healthy coping strategies include positive and productive ways to deal with challenges, while unhealthy ones include drowning yourself in alcohol or even drugs. Be careful because practicing bad coping skills can do more harm than good. It can hinder your healing, put a strain on your relationships, or even result in gambling depression.
On the flip side, learning healthy coping tactics is essential because it will make you resilient. You’ll develop the courage and willpower to keep moving forward no matter what comes your way. This article will suggest some healthy coping strategies to help you recover from a massive gambling loss.
Why Are Coping Strategies Important?
Whether you’ve had a bad game day or burned your entire bankroll, having healthy coping strategies in place is a must. That’s because coping mechanisms help you manage stressful life situations. And proper stress management results in better physical and psychological health.
Not all coping strategies are created equal. You might feel the urge to settle for quick-fix solutions, but it could only lead to more severe problems down the road. Coping often involves accepting and adjusting to painful realities such as a massive gambling loss. Here are some simple yet helpful coping strategies to try:
- Do yoga
- Drink tea
- Take a bath
- Go for a walk
- Pep talk yourself
- Plan out your day
- Play with your pet
- Use aromatherapy
- Cook a hearty meal
- Squeeze a stress ball
- Spend time in nature
- Take deep, long breaths
- Lower your expectations
- Engage in problem-solving
- Write your thoughts in a journal
- Distance yourself from stressors
- Go somewhere quiet and peaceful
- Watch a comedy movie or TV series
- Build emotionally supportive relationships
- Seek help from trusted friends and family members
- Use visualization techniques to boost positive emotions
Coping Strategies for Gambling Loss
Coping strategies come in various forms. An emotion-focused approach means taking care of your emotional well-being. After a massive loss, you can no longer do anything to turn back time. However, you can still take control of your mental and emotional health. Try healthy coping strategies like meditating, working out, or reading a book.
Meanwhile, a problem-focused tactic concentrates on what you can do to address the situation. You can think of ways on how you can recover financially from a massive gambling loss. It may be seeking expert advice or rethinking your budget plan. The key is to see what works best for you. Here are more coping strategies to consider:
Learn to Accept Your Losses
As the saying goes, acceptance is the key. Losing is part of gambling, and as a gambler, you have to learn to live with your losses. No matter how good of a player you are, hands won’t always go your way. So before you even enter a casino, plan how you would handle them calmly and with clarity.
The ability to accept defeat is what separates winners from losers. Come up with a list of coping strategies that work for you. That way, you’ll know how to deal with defeat and bounce back.
Go on a Gambling Holiday
You cannot solve gambling issues by gambling more. So once your losses start to pile up, it’s time to take a break from gambling or say goodbye to it forever. But that’s not to say that you can just sit around while giving a pause on gambling. You have to get active.
There are many coping strategies you can use to divert your mind from gambling losses. Try to learn a new sport or engage in recreational activities like gardening or cooking. While these activities aren’t as thrilling as gambling, they help a great deal in keeping your mind off your gambling losses.
Rethink Your Gambling Budget
In some cases, overspending is the mastermind behind massive gambling losses. Simply put, you can’t lose big if you don’t gamble big. That said, one of the best coping strategies is to fix your gambling budget.
It’s so easy to lose control over your spending when you’re excited. However, having a fixed budget beforehand helps you to stay on track. You can do that by determining how much you can spend monthly on gambling. When planning this, be realistic. Only spend money allotted for leisure, not your living expenses.
Come Up With a New Strategy
Now that you’ve set a gambling budget, it’s time to strategize on how you can maximize your bankroll. Start all over again and review each type of gambling you’ve tried. Ask which game did you have the most success at and which one cost you the most money.
Throughout this process, you might figure that you have to learn a new game. It’s okay, but you need a lot of patience as it can take a while to perfect a strategy that works for you. As always, practice makes perfect.
Set Goals
If you wish to make a comeback to the casino and play a new game, it’s wise to set goals for winning and losing. Don’t skip this step because it’s crucial to have goals in mind before entering a casino again.
After a massive loss, one of the coping strategies you could do is to open a separate bank account for gambling. By so doing, you can avoid the temptation of exceeding your budget. The further step is to keep a record book of which games you won and lost. That will help you recognize winning and losing patterns, as well as become aware of which games you’re better at.
How Do I Stop Gambling Depression?
Pretty much like drugs and alcohol, gambling can turn into an addiction. And once it becomes an issue, you might experience stress, anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. That’s because gambling can affect the part of your brain that releases a feel-good hormone called dopamine.
When you experience gambling addiction, other pleasurable activities may not have the same impact on you anymore. As a result, you’ll continue gambling to satisfy that craving. Gamblers with existing mental health issues are more at risk of problem gambling. But the great news is that you can do something to revert your brain chemistry. You can feel excited about daily life again.
More often than not, a problem gambler will only recognize the issue once a financial crisis arises. If you find yourself drowning in debt, take a deep breath and know that there’s a solution to your problem. The mere act of planning how to dig out of a financial hole brings you a step closer to financial freedom. Aim to minimize your expenses, pay off your bills on time, and raise your monthly payments to creditors.
One simple yet effective way to combat depression is by increasing your activity level. By keeping yourself busy, you’ll have a different focus and feel more in control. It can significantly help up your mood, ease your tiredness, and clear your mind.
It’s normal to feel stressed. But if you think gambling depression is an issue for you, it’s time to seek help. Chat with a friend or family member about it. You can also consult a counselor to discuss some coping strategies.
