5 ways to stop or reduce a betting addiction

Men love to gamble or bet – it’s so popular these days. Betting involves staking money on an outcome or prediction.

Over 60 million South Africans bet, between the ages of 18-40-years-old and 53% of bet daily.

How do you know you have a betting problem?

You spend ridiculous amounts of money on bets – you even borrow money.
You feel uncomfortable and restless when you haven’t gambled.
You gamble when you are sad to relieve stress.
You tried to stop betting but you can’t.
Betting can lead to a loss of money, mood swings, feelings of guilt and regret, and borrowing to fund a gambling addiction.

If you find yourself stuck in a betting circle and you want to break out of it. Here are some things you can do;

1. Keep track of how much money you are spending and losing
If you keep track of the money you spent gambling, you might see the reason why you need to quit gambling for good.

2. Give yourself a betting limit
Instead of going cold turkey, set a limit for a month, like a betting budget. If you bet for fun or recreation, then set a negligible amount.

3. Whenever you feel like betting, save your money or invest in low-risk ventures
Put the money you want to use to gamble somewhere you can’t retrieve easily.

Some people say that gambling is a form of investment like crypto and forex trading so try low-risk investments like bonds and mutual funds instead.

4. Delay gratification
When you feel the urge to gamble, postpone the feeling for 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes until you have forgotten about it and the feeling goes away.

5. Avoid situations, places and people that make you bet
If it means hanging out less with friends who love to bet or not going to viewing centres then you should try that out.

Finally, to stop a bad habit, you have to replace it with another; For example, you can exercise instead of betting away your fortunes.