Treatment of gaming addiction

Gaming addiction (ludomania or gambling) is a type of psychological dependence manifested in an uncontrolled and unrestrained hunger for gambling. This emotional disorder ultimately leads to depression.

The development of civilization, electronics, and gambling gave birth to an infinite number of temptations and illusory ways of quick enrichment. Many people began to take gambling as a chance to relieve stress and improve their financial situation. But without even noticing it, they became hostage to gambling machines and found themselves in a vicious circle, having almost no possibility to find way out.

Gambling like any addiction has several stages. Everything starts with a common and seemingly harmless wish to gamble. However, over time, a gambler feels need to fulfill this wish more and more often. Subjectively, he still doesn’t feel any mental stress caused by gambling, and it seems to him a harmless pastime, as before.

But soon it becomes more difficult to suppress the wish to gamble. There is an unrestrained hunger for gambling, and the gambler isn’t able to stop even after a gain. As a result, all the money is lost, and only lack of funds can temporarily make the gambler stop. Despite losses he firmly believes that he will certainly win it all back and gain big money, and, therefore, continues to gamble with growing enthusiasm.

The above mentioned stage is followed by the next one, when thoughts about gambling consume most of the gambler’s life. During pauses between gambling an addicted person tries to get money to bet, borrows infinitely from relatives, sells property or arranges credits, but having received cherished funds, he loses them again. Without expected gains he becomes obsessed. At this stage, one can find himself in severe depression at any time.

Treatment of gambling addiction is a complex and long process. Psychic Bonus is doing a big job involving various specialists and trainers. All treatment is built around a patient and is carried out on an outdoor basis. The use of various techniques aimed at changing the patient’s consciousness and life priorities, as well as getting rid of hunger for gambling helps achieve the therapeutic goals and free the patient from gaming addiction.

Psychotherapy is the main and indispensable method of treating gaming addiction. Cognitive-behavioral therapy used on
Psychic Bonus has repeatedly proven its efficiency in addictions treatment in patients.

In the working process with a psychotherapist (it is carried out throughout the treatment course) a patient completely changes his world view and, most importantly, his attitude to his own problem: he begins to realize the destructive impact the gaming addiction has on his life.

If the diagnostics finds any concomitant mental disorders including depression, then the psychotherapy is initially aimed at getting rid of the whole complex of disorders.

The patient learns to get rid of the causes that provoke gambling, becomes familiar with the methods of self-control in stressful situations, and replaces negative thoughts with more optimistic and positive ones.