Do you want to understand why you gamble?
People gamble for many reasons. Understanding the reasons you gamble can help you figure out why you continue to gamble, even if it’s negatively affecting your life.
Learning why you gamble is a good start to changing your gambling. By understanding why you gamble, you can develop effective strategies to address the underlying factors contributing to your gambling and take steps towards making long-lasting changes to your gambling.
Do you want to understand why your family member or friend gambles?
People gamble for many reasons. Understanding the reasons your family member or friend gambles can help you figure out why they continue to gamble, even if it’s negatively affecting your lives.
Encouraging your family member or friend to reflect on their reasons for gambling can be a good first step towards them making a change. By understanding why they gamble, they can develop effective strategies to address the underlying factors contributing to their gambling and take steps towards making long-lasting changes to their gambling.
Understanding the motivations behind your family member or friend’s gambling can help you support them better.
Do you want to understand why someone gambles?
As a professional working with people with harmful gambling, it’s important to understand that people gamble for various reasons. Knowing the reasons behind the gambling of the person you’re working with can help you figure out why they continue to gamble, even if it’s negatively affecting their life.
Encouraging them to identify the reason they gamble is an important first step in helping them make a change. Understanding their gambling motivations can help them develop effective strategies to address the underlying factors contributing to their gambling and take steps to make long-lasting changes to their gambling.
Why do people gamble?
For many people, gambling is simply a form of entertainment. However, gambling can become an issue when people start gambling as way to forget their concerns, bring excitement to their lives, try and win money, or socialise with other people.
People can use gambling to forget their worries, cheer themselves up when they’re in a bad mood, feel more self-confident, or help when they are feeling nervous or depressed.
People gamble as it can bring a feeling of excitement and can be used to make themselves feel good.
People gamble because they want to win money, get enjoyment in thinking about what they would do with a big win, or think winning would change their life.
People gamble because it’s what their friends do when they get together, it’s something to do on special occasions, it makes social gatherings more enjoyable, or it creates an opportunity to socialise with others.
“The way hotel staff welcomed me with a cup of coffee and biscuit made me feel at home” - Mike
People who gamble for any of these four reasons are more likely to gamble in a way that becomes harmful.
What can you do?
Identifying why you gamble can help you change your gambling.
You could try other ways to manage your negative feelings. Check out how negative emotions and gambling are often linked together. You could also look for other activities you enjoy. Take a look at our self-help activities, like Keeping Busy, Finding Ways to Relax, and Focusing on Health and Wellbeing.
You can also try finding other things that make you feel good and consider whether you still get enjoyment from gambling. Check out Keeping Busy for some fun ideas.
You can also create a budget and look at other ways of managing your money and dealing with your debts. Check out our information on Managing Money and Resolving Financial Challenges, as well as our self-help activity on Creating a Budget. Financial counselling might also help – take a look at How Financial Counselling Can Help With Gambling.
You can look for other activities to share with your family and friends or ask them to support your efforts to quit or cut back. You might not be the only one looking to make a change. You could also work towards expanding your friendship group to include people who don’t gamble.
What can you do?
Identifying why your friend or family member gambles can help you work together to change their gambling.
You could try working with them to find ways to manage their negative feelings without gambling. Check out how negative emotions and gambling are often linked together. They could also look for other activities they enjoy. You can refer them to our self-help activities like Keeping Busy, Finding Ways to Relax, and Focusing on Health and Wellbeing.
You can also try working with them to find other things that make them feel good. Refer them to Keeping Busy for some fun ideas.
You can also work with them to create a budget and look at other ways of managing their money and dealing with their debts. Get them to check out our information on Managing Money and Resolving Financial Challenges, as well as our self-help activity on Creating a Budget. They may also benefit from financial counselling – take a look at How Financial Counselling Can Help With Gambling.
You can encourage them to look for other activities to share with you or other family members or friends or ask their family and friends to support their efforts to quit or cut back. You could also work with them towards expanding their friendship group to include people who don’t gamble.
What can you do?
Identifying why the person you’re working with gambles can help you work together to change their gambling.
You could try working with them to find ways to manage their negative feelings without gambling. Check out how negative emotions and gambling are often linked together . They could also look for other activities they enjoy. You can refer them to our self-help activities like Keeping Busy, Finding Ways to Relax, and Focusing on Health and Wellbeing.
You can also try working with them to find other things that make them feel good.Refer them to Keeping Busy for some fun ideas.
You can also work with them to create a budget and look at other ways of managing their money and dealing with their debts Get them to check out our information on Managing Money and Resolving Financial Challenges, as well as our self-help activity on Creating a Budget. You could also refer them to financial counselling – take a look at How Financial Counselling Can Help With Gambling.
You can encourage them to look for other activities to share with their family and friends or ask their family and friends to support their efforts to quit or cut back. You could also work with them towards expanding their friendship group to include people who don’t gamble.
Making a change can be hard, but you don’t have to do it alone. Check out our Self-Help Activities to develop specific strategies to change your gambling. Or speaking to a counsellor can help – see our information about different options in Seeking Support.
Do you want more help?
To learn more about why you gamble, you can start an online chat with us or call the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 – free, confidential, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These services are available to support anyone affected by gambling harm, including family members or friends.
Making a change can be hard, but help is available for both you and your friend or family member. Get them to check out our Self-Help Activities to develop specific strategies to change their gambling. Or one or both of you may benefit from speaking to a counsellor -– see our information about different options in Seeking Support.
Do you want more help?
To learn more about why people gamble, you or your family member or friend can start an online chat with us or call the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 – free, confidential, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
These services are available to support anyone affected by gambling harm, including family members or friends like you. It’s not only the person who gambles that can be affected, but the people close to them too. It’s important to take care of yourself when you’re supporting someone else. Check out the family and friends section in our peer support community to connect with people who understand.
You can encourage the person you’re supporting to work towards changing their gambling using our Self-Help Activities. Or you can refer to them one of the support or counselling options that are available to help people with gambling harm – see Seeking Support.
Do you want more help?
To learn more about why people gamble, you or the person you’re working with can start an online chat with us or call the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 – free, confidential, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
These services are available to support anyone affected by gambling harm, including family members, friends, and professionals like you. It can be hard for professionals to support people with gambling issues. To learn more about how you can help, go to our section on How Professionals Can Help.
