For many people, playing at a brick-and-mortar casino or on an online casino site is nothing more than entertainment. It’s a chance to get together with friends and have a night out or enjoy a quick, casual game to pass the time while relaxing at home. As long as that’s all it is, gambling never becomes an issue.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case for everyone. For some, it can be very hard, if not impossible, to resist the urge to gamble. This is where self-exclusion can prove not just helpful, but essential. It can save you from falling into debt and protect your family from the associated consequences. Did you know that you can check yourself into self-exclusion at any time? These are just some of the benefits of gambling self-exclusion that we’ll explore below.
Self-Exclusion Can Help Keep Your Finances in Check
One of the biggest issues that gambling can cause is financial hardship. Nobody goes into a casino or plays online at one of the real-money casinos with the expectation they will lose big. Players hope that luck will come their way and allow them to hit the jackpot.
The reality is there is no guarantee in gambling. This is exactly why professional gamblers and experts recommend you only bet what you’re comfortable losing. You need to go in with the expectation that you will lose that money. If your gambling money is needed to pay bills such as rent, a mortgage, or a car payment, it will cause significant financial hardship if you lose it.
Self-Exclusion Can Help Keep Your Relationships Healthy
Statistics show that one of the biggest relationship stressors for couples is money. According to Ipsos research, 34% of couples say that money is a source of conflict. Knowing that’s the case and that frequent gambling can lead to financial problems, it’s easy to make the connection. By using self-exclusion, you can build a healthier relationship with your partner since you won’t be creating additional money stressors.
Self-Exclusion Can Give You the Tools Needed to Take Control of Your Life
At some point in life, everyone can feel out of control. External events over which you have no control can have serious consequences in your life. While you may not be able to control those things, you can use self-exclusion to take control of your gambling. Feeling like gambling controls you can be scary, and it can be hard to see a way out.
Through self-exclusion, you’ll start feeling like you’re regaining control of your life. It’s all about baby steps. Once you start feeling more in control, it can empower you to keep going with your efforts.
Self-Exclusion Can Help You Eliminate the Stress That Gambling Causes
The whole idea of gambling is that it’s meant to be a light and fun source of entertainment. Once you start feeling stress, anxiety, and even depression as a result of gambling, it’s no longer about fun.
Through self-exclusion, you can almost immediately eliminate the stress caused by gambling. After all, if you’re not gambling, you won’t have that stressor. Right?
Self-Exclusion Can Be Embraced by Anyone and Is Voluntary
A couple of key facts about self-exclusion are that it can be embraced by anyone and is completely voluntary. The National Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program (NVSEP), which first became available in New England, was meant to act as the model that other states could build upon and use for inspiration. It now supports several languages and is more accessible than ever.
The program is also free to join in various states, and even through some casinos. You can visit the program’s website to see if your state supports it. Four states currently support the self-exclusion program, and more than 100,000 adults take advantage of it.
When you embrace self-exclusion, you can take a break from gambling for a day, a week, a month, a year, or for the rest of your life. Once you enter the program, access to online accounts is blocked, and there are protections in place against racetracks, casinos, and other gambling venues.
Self-Exclusion Helps to Teach the Importance of Responsible Gaming
At its very base, self-exclusion is meant to teach people the importance of responsible gaming. It’s something that can be overlooked and eventually becomes incredibly hard to escape. Responsible gaming is something that the entire gambling industry supports, as well as operators, vendors, and government regulators.
It’s an all-hands-on-deck approach meant to put people’s well-being first. Responsible gaming helps people minimize the risk of gambling-related harm.
Self-Exclusion Offers Routes to Treatment When Needed
Sometimes, the basic steps and measures of self-exclusion may not suffice. If that’s the case for you, NVSEP offers information about problem gambling treatment. Depending on the treatment you require, it may even be included under your insurance plan. While NVSEP is free, specialized treatments do carry a cost.
Self-Exclusion Could Be Just What You Need to Break the Gambling Cycle
If gambling has become a source of stress, contention, and even depression in your life, it is no longer just about entertainment. This can be a giant red flag that your interest in gambling has spiraled out of control into addiction and needs to be reined in. There are plenty of ways to take control of gambling, but self-exclusion might just be the right one for you. At the very least, it’s worth looking into and asking questions about.
Jessica has a flair for writing engaging blogs and articles. She enjoys reading and learning new things which enables her to write different topics and fields with ease. She also strives to break down complex concepts and make them easy for anybody to comprehend.
