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6 - Retraining the Brain: Rewarding Yourself

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2022

Henrietta Bowden-Jones OBE
Affiliation:
National Problem Gambling Clinic, London
Venetia Leonidaki
Affiliation:
National Problem Gambling Clinic, London
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Summary

In the previous chapter you learnt about your brain and how it can be altered by gambling. You are up against a ‘tricky brain’ that has been hijacked by gambling and needs to be retrained so you can stop gambling and stay abstinent. A good way to do this is to reward yourself when you don’t gamble; this is what this chapter will focus on.

Rewarding yourself for the days, weeks, and months that you don’t gamble is a critical part of successful recovery. Rewards reinforce the behaviour of not gambling as well as making a gambling-free life more enjoyable and therefore something you are more likely to sustain. If life without gambling doesn’t feel enjoyable then it will be much harder to maintain abstinence long term.

Type
Chapter
Information
Breaking Free
How To Stop Gambling
, pp. 48 - 56
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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