Gambling Self-Help

Self-help is often the first choice amongst people who want to change their gambling. Different strategies work for different folks.

Our counsellors share some information below on how to stop gambling or how to practise safer gambling.

Building healthy habits

Taking up new habits can help you to stay busy, keep your mind off gambling, and keep you out of situations that make you want to gamble.

Healthy habits can also contribute to improved mental health and physical wellbeing. Examples of healthy habits you can start today include:

Focusing on work or study
Starting a new DIY project
Spending more time outdoors
Spending time with friends who don’t gamble
Video games without in-game purchases or loot boxes
Daily activities around the house, like chores and repairs
Revisiting old hobbies that you haven’t practised in a while
Starting a new hobby, like gardening or playing an instrument
Spending time in places that won’t trigger your urge to gamble
Ringing and chatting with a loved one until the urge to gamble passes
Physical activity, like exercising, walking, or joining a local team sport or gym

Setting limits

By setting limits, you can take back control of your gambling. Gambling limits may include:

A temporary self-ban
Setting a time limit while gambling
Limiting bets to a smaller amount of money
Setting a deposit limit for online betting accounts
Setting a spending limit for each week or fortnight
Setting alarms to keep track of time while gambling
Avoiding gambling under the influence of drugs and alcohol
Taking regular breaks while participating in gambling activities

Managing Money

Finances are one of the first things that can be impacted by gambling harm. Gambling harm can have devastating financial consequences.

Here are some money management tactics for gambling that are safer for your wallet:

Set spending limits on your debit cards
Limit the amount of cash you’re carrying
Leave additional cards and non-essential cash at home
Avoid gambling with a credit card, loans, or borrowed money
Track your money by creating a budget and tracking spending
Keep a record and know how much money you spend on gambling
Pay bills and buy your essentials and necessities before spending anything on gambling

Using social support

Social support involves opening up about your experience, whether it’s with trusted friends and family or with strangers who are going through similar challenges. Talking about your gambling might be a good way to vent and take some weight off your shoulders.

Social support includes:

Spending time with friends who don’t gamble
Talking to trusted loved ones about gambling
Joining a gambling support group, such as Gamblers Anonymous
Staying connected with family and friends, even if you don’t want to talk about gambling
Following positive online forums about gambling help, such as Gambling Help Online

Using social support

Changing your thoughts and beliefs about gambling

Making changes often starts from within.

Changing your thoughts and beliefs around gambling includes:

Identifying how your gambling should change
Writing down the negative effects of gambling
Writing down the positive effects of not gambling
Creating a vision board and writing down your goals
Thinking about better ways you could use your money
Breaking down how much you’re spending on gambling
Considering how your gambling affects your family and friends
Understanding that gambling is an industry – it’s not a way for you to make money

Managing triggers and urges

A trigger is something that sets off a negative emotion.

An urge is a desire to enact on a – usually unwanted – behaviour.

In the case of gambling, certain things might trigger the urge to gamble. Triggers and urges can cause us to feel and act in ways that we don’t necessarily want.

Learning to recognise your gambling triggers and urges

The first step to managing triggers and urges is to understand what yours are. What makes you feel like you want to or have to gamble?

Examples of triggers might include:

Pay day
Feeling bored
Feeling lonely
Being at a sports event
Adverts about gambling
Consuming alcohol or drugs
Your peers or those around you gambling
Offers and promotions from gaming room and casinos
Stress about money, relationships, family, or work/studies
Being at the pub, casino, or any place with a gaming room

Avoiding your triggers

Once you’ve identified what triggers your urge to gamble, it’s wise to avoid these triggers while you’re still in the early stages of changing your gambling.

How to avoid triggers:

Limit drinking and drug use
Ban yourself from online gambling
Remove gambling apps from your phone
Spend time off of or away from your phone
Block gambling websites from your devices
Remove bank card information from your phone
Spend time at other locations, like venues without pokies
Take alternate routes to avoid passing the casino or other venues when you’re out

Coping with your triggers and urges

Sometimes, completely avoiding triggers isn’t possible. Or maybe you’re feeling comfortable enough on your healing journey to face your triggers and manage the urges that may follow.

Try the “6 D Approach”

Delay

Put off the urge for five minutes, then 20 minutes, then one hour and so on. Urges are like waves – they build to a peak, but subside and fade. Each urge you beat is a step in reducing future urges.
Distract

Think about something that makes you happy. Find an alternate activity to busy yourself with, like writing down your feelings in a journal or in your phone, stepping outdoors for a walk and some fresh air, going to the gym, or cooking a healthy meal.
Detour

Take alternate routes around the gaming venue or seek new ways home that don’t pass the venue.
Discuss

Ring a trusted loved one to talk through your urge, or ring Gambling Help to speak to a counsellor any time at 1800 858 858.
Deep breathing

Take three deep breaths. Concentrate on how you feel as you breathe in and out. What emotions are you experiencing?
Decide

Once the urge to gamble has passed and your mind is clear, making a pros and cons list (such as the advantages and disadvantages of gambling) can help you decide what to do next.

Focusing on health and wellbeing

It’s easy to let our wellbeing slide when we’re experiencing something as difficult as gambling harm.

Focusing on your mental and physical health makes a huge difference when trying to change your gambling.

By prioritising your health, you can manage stress and other negative emotions that make you want to gamble. With a clearer head and a healthier body, it’s easier to move forward.

Positive health and wellbeing practices

Journaling
Regular exercise
Getting enough sleep
Set aside leisure time
Speaking to a counsellor
Limiting alcohol, drugs, and caffeine
Spending time with family and friends

Self-ban

A gambling self-ban, or self-exclusion, is a voluntary request to be excluded from specific gambling providers, products, or services.

Most gambling providers in Queensland are required to offer self-exclusion. You can self-ban from gambling at clubs, hotels, TAB outlets, and casinos across the state. You can also ban yourself from online gambling and mobile gambling.

Learn more about gambling self-ban