How to control yourself from gambling?

hi reader’s! I’ve lost a lots of money gambling in the past years, and several days ago I’ve finally decided to stop gambling to save some cash for my next holidays and after a lot of research, below are the best methods that worked for me so I thought I’ll share with you all, have fun!

Delaying the decision 

Delaying the decision to gamble allows time for the urge to pass and for you to feel more in control of the decision. This is different to urge surfing as the focus is on the person using distraction from the urge to gamble rather than letting it pass without distraction.

Distraction takes the focus temporarily away from the urge and can give you time to rethink your decision to gamble. 

Try the following next time you have the urge to gamble:

• Relax and focus on staying calm.

• Take some deep breaths to slow yourself down and refocus on what you can do now.

• Try to distract yourself with an activity to keep calm, such as a shower or a bath. Or you may read a book, cook or watch a TV show to stop thinking about gambling.  Find an activity that suits you.

• Say to yourself "maybe I won't go, I will see how I feel in an hour" and then go and do something else.

Remember you may find the urge returns when you stop the other activity. If this happens, perhaps try the urge surfing technique as above.

Set a goal that you can achieve if you stop gambling or develop a list of reasons why you made the decision. For example:

• I will have more money to put towards a holiday.

• I will be able to hold my head up high.

• My family will be proud.

• I will be able to pay my bills.

• As my savings begin to grow money will have value once again.

Staying quit 

Remember urges do not usually last longer than one hour.

DELAY+DISTRACT=STAYING STOPPED
 

Once you have decided to delay the decision to gamble, shift your attention to what you might like to do. It might be something you used to do before gambling became a problem, or something you've always wanted to try.

Many people find engaging in sport fulfilling; this could be anything that gets you moving. From a daily walk or run, to joining a gym or team sport. 

When you feel an urge, do something else immediately and keep the following in mind:

• Limit access to money

• Surf the urge

• Distract from the urge 

• Seek support from someone you feel you can trust. You don't have to call someone to talk to them about experiencing an urge. You might just want to ring and talk about something completely unrelated to gambling.

Thanks for reading! (: