How Is Self-deception Expressed In Gambling Addiction?
An addiction is a complex problem both for the person who suffers from it and for those around them. Among non-substance addictions, gambling addiction is one of the most frequent. In fact, the ease of access to betting houses, as well as how easily it goes unnoticed, can be factors that make it difficult to detect this problem.
Although popularly there is a tendency to attribute the origin and maintenance of any addiction to one factor. For example, “he started playing because his mother died”, the reality is very different. There are many factors that influence at the same time, and that make addictions such a complex problem to treat and solve.
Among all these factors, there are some better known than others, but we must know them all if we really want to understand this problem. Today, we want to explain to you how self-deception works in gambling addiction.
Self-deception is defined as a mental process in which the person denies or avoids arguments, evidence and ideas that are opposite to their own and desired ones. There are many authors who conceive self-deception as a defense mechanism in situations in which people feel incapable of acting or do not wish to face it.
We must distinguish self-deception from lying, the main difference being the recipient of the lie. While lying is directed outward and usually pursues a specific goal, self-deception is directed toward the person themselves and seeks to preserve psychological stability.
A very typical example is when a friend seems to have an addiction and when you tell them your concern about it, they respond “I’ll quit whenever I want.”. Other examples of self-deception in relation to gambling could be “I only gamble for entertainment” or “cards are harmless, a lot of people play.”
With these ideas in mind we can understand that self-deception works as a “self-protection” mechanism whose purpose is to avoid situations or ideas that are very difficult for us to manage and that can put our own identity to the test. This mental process can become very unconscious and, if not explicitly addressed, generates a multitude of problems.
Self-deception, lying and gambling addiction
On the one hand, people with gambling addiction use lies to avoid punishment; For example, they lie so that their family members do not restrict their financial resources and access to the substance or game. This lie is conscious and intentional (not necessarily malicious).
On the other hand, People with gambling addiction use self-deception as a way to avoid confronting themselves and start taking action about it. In fact, accepting that they have an addiction problem is the first step to starting to solve it. But, it is not easy for anyone to accept that they have such a harmful and socially frowned upon problem.
It is not easy for anyone to accept ideas like “I am addicted to gambling.” Assuming and accepting an addiction problem means facing many associated popular ideas (and far from reality) that are not easy to manage. The social stigma of addiction is strong, we tend to run away from these people, which makes their recovery more difficult.
Stopping self-deception involves: suffering unpleasant emotions (“he has the monkey”), assuming social stigma (that others think badly of me) and creating a new personal identity (the addiction absorbs the person so much that they must recover or create a new one). type of life). Self-deception helps the person avoid even assuming these consequences.
How does therapy help with self-deception?
Psychological therapy is essential to treat gambling addiction. Without learning why I play and without learning what I can do differently to do things other than play, there cannot be a consolidation of a new life. Below we show you how therapy can help reduce self-deception.
1. Evaluating the degree of self-deception
The first phase of treatment consists of evaluating the degree of self-deception in which the person is immersed. For it, Psychologists have questionnaires and psychological tools that allow them to establish an emotional bond with people and check to what degree self-deception is present in the various areas of their life.
2. Receive psychoeducation
In therapy it is common to offer clients scientific and truthful information about psychological problems. Offering information about why the self-deception process itself helps the person accept the situation and become empowered in the face of it.
3. Dismantle ideas
Derived from self-deception, people with gambling addiction have a multitude of ideas that are distorted or far from reality. It is a complex job, but a psychologist specialized in addictions can help dismantle myths, calm insecurities and fears, and discover new points of view.
In this way, little by little the person with a gambling addiction can replace self-deception with functional and positive coping strategies. For example, learning to see situations from more than one point of view, or paying more attention to self-deceptions that are very frequent and powerful for the person.
Once self-deception is worked on in therapy, a multitude of related aspects and ideas are touched upon. Let’s say that self-deception is the first barrier, but once overcome, new strategies can be built.
Among the strategies we find: relaxation techniques, interpersonal communication skills, problem-solving techniques, control of situations and objects that can trigger relapses, work on values, gratitude, etc.
In fact, the last key work for preventing relapses will be to work on self-deceptions that could occur if the person resumes the game. An example could be when the person deceives themselves by denying “having returned to playing like before” for fear of suffering a relapse. To do this, the psychologist offers the possibility of monitoring in order to maintain progress and solve any difficulties that occur along the way.
