Regularly taking some time to reflect on your gambling behaviour can be an effective way of making sure that gambling remains a fun activity, which does not lead to gambling related harms such as financial difficulties or neglect of other important activities.
While various self-assessment tools exist, it can also be insightful to reflect on your gambling behaviour and the feelings that you experience in relation to gambling. Try to be aware of your emotions and thoughts while you perform this exercise. If you feel uncomfortable during this exercise, find that you try to explain away actions, or even lie to yourself, this will often be a sign that you could benefit from reducing your gambling or seeking professional help.
Here are some suggestions for questions that can help guide your reflections. You may choose to go through all the 8 questions or pick the ones that you find most relevant.
• What is your motivation to gamble?
• How does it feel like when you gamble? How does it feel like after you gamble? • Do you experience that you lose track of time and money spent while gambling? • Do you know how much time and money you spend gambling on a monthly basis? If not, try to get an overview. How do you feel about these numbers?
• How often do you spend time on thinking about gambling when you are not gambling? • Does gambling get in the way of carrying out other aspects of your life?
• How would you feel about sharing how much you gamble to a person close to you? • Have you ever experienced that gambling has left you short of money?
You may choose to supplement this reflection exercise with the self-test Gamalyze to assess how risky your gambling style is: Try the test here
Hopefully, this exercise has left you with a clearer view on how you feel about your gambling behaviour.
Please reach out to www.gambleaware.org if you feel like you might benefit from discussing your gambling with a professional or need advice on how to reduce your gambling. A good strategy for cutting down is to substitute gambling with other activities that you enjoy. Go for a walk outside, meet up with a friend, start a creative project or engage in another activity that you find enjoyable.
