It has been estimated that 50 to 75 percent of gamblers resume gambling after attempting to quit (N. M. Petry et al., 2006). In my last blog I talked about ‘trigger cues’ being a key cause of us relapsing. I haven’t found any research that gives a definitive list of ‘trigger cues’. They appear to be personal to all of us. One of the reasons I asked about what type of gambler you are in the previous blog, is because this can affect what type of ‘trigger cues’ affect you. It’s likely that if you’re an escape gambler, you’ll be most affected by emotional trigger cues. Something that reminds you of what you were trying to escape from by gambling in the first place is likely to be a key trigger cue. If you’re an action gambler, you’re more likely to be affected by thought cues. For example, by thinking about what you could have done with your money, when you’ll be out of debt, or maybe what the next big win WOULD be IF you decided to gamble again. As an action gambler, and because I’ve relapsed a number of times, I’ve started to see a pattern in my trigger cues. I used to bet a lot on tennis, and whenever there’s a major championship, I find myself with an urge to gamble again. This urge comes about because I THINK I know what bets will come in. Because I’ve placed some ‘fake bets’ in my head already by saying who I think will win a match. When it then comes true, I’m more compelled to put some money in a betting account and start gambling again. Once that happens we know the rest! Another trigger cue can simply be time. If the day I get paid I have a few hours to spare, being on my own, sometimes I then get an urge to bet. Not necessarily through boredom. Bu because I think it gives me more time to think about and realise the debt I’m in. Once you start thinking and focussing on debt, you then want to get out of that debt ASAP. Or at least I do. And getting myself debt free should naturally be a long-term thing. Paying off cards bit by bit as I get paid. But the more I think about the debt, the more I want to take a short-cut and try to ‘gamble’ my way out of the problem that gambling got me into! So for me, whenever a major tennis championship is on, I know I need to do a number of things. Stop watching the tennis – which I won’t be able to do. Stop thinking about who is going to win – again I probably can’t do this. So, I know to keep busy, I know to use my money to pay off debts on the day I’m paid so I have no floating cash to play with, and now I’ve documented my main urge, I know how to recognise it and hopefully increase my chances of stopping the relapse! Some other tips to avoid relapses are: - to find other things to do, other interests that will take your mind off gambling - to concentrate on the consequences, for example the feeling of letting yourself and other down and the lost money that results from gambling. See my post ‘that sinking feeling…’ for a visual representation of how I feel following gambling. I’ll use this going forward as my visual guide / reminder - to find strength in others – which is what I’m doing through this blog, through others, and through support groups Remember that if you relapse, don't beat yourself up over it. Think about why you relapsed, and think about what you'll do differently next time. Learn something from your relapse. Very often we all relapse a number of times, but as long as you take or learn something from it, it can be an important step in your recovery! Let me amplify the above thoughts with a quote: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts". I will also include this, for now, on my quote of the day page. Let's take strength from it and never give up. So, what are your trigger cues? And what are you going to do to prevent relapses in the future? Let me know in the comments section or send me an e-mail! Leave a Reply. |
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