Pathological Gamblers – Cognitive Distortions

Cognitive distortions are often biased cognitive treatments. In addition, when we talk about mental disorders such as pathological gamblers, then these become more important. Because in many cases either only the aforementioned distortions occurred or were among the factors that contributed to them.

Gambling is one of the most primitive activities in human history. You can find the names of famous characters who were obsessed with gambling when reading history books. Emperor Claudius, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Giacomo Casanova are just a few examples.

However, it was not until the 1980s that gaming began to become more relevant, when the fact that it could lead to serious problems became clear. That’s when the DSM-III decided to include it as a diagnostic category.

Diagnosis

When we talk about pathological games, we mean games of chance. Video games will therefore not fall into this category, even if it does not mean that these players cannot become addicted.

You can recognize a pathological gambler we are referring to, according to the diagnostic manuals, by losing control of the game. Correspondingly, when establishing a dependent relationship. The speculator will continue to gamble even when they are aware of the negative consequences.

At present, pathological gaming has changed from being classified as an impulse control disorder to the category of addictive disorders in the DSM-5. This is because it has many of the characteristics of an addiction.

The fruitless efforts of a risk taker to resist the urge to gamble often lead to a total decline in their personal, family and / or professional goals.

The cognitive bias of pathological gamblers

Pathological gamblers have certain irrational perceptions or cognitive distortions in mind that keep them addicted to the game.

Cognitive distortions are biases we adopt when processing information. They are not necessarily pathological, since we all have them to a greater or lesser degree. Instead, a person should change them if they are too frequent and prevent them from progressing. The typical distortions of pathological players are:

• The illusion of control. This is the belief that the results of a game depend more on the activity itself than on chance. The person really believes that they alone can control the game and its results. For example, a pathological gambler may think, “I have an infallible method of winning.” They believe in this bias and logically they continue to play.

• Fixation with absolute occurrences. Gamblers measure the success of a game by only looking at their earnings while rejecting the loss. It is common for a speculator to lose much more than they win. However, that bias is an illusion that keeps them rooted in their addiction.
• Superstition or illusory correlation. These are random associations between a certain event or behavior and a prize. So the player begins to believe that said event increases the probability of winning. This is similar to carrying a lucky amulet or performing a specific ritual. Clearly this is a magical thought because a pathological gambler cannot control his winnings or losses. An example of this cognitive distortion could be: “If I kiss my dice before throwing them, I will win”.

• Machine personification. Some risk takers attribute animated features to the machines or inanimate objects they play with. A person may think, “The machine deceives me, it will confuse me, but it does not succeed because I am smarter.”

How to help pathological gamblers?

The first step in overcoming a cognitive distortion is that a pathological gambler notices said distortion. Cognitive biases are not easy to detect because they are programmed over time. One way to detect them is by asking a gambler to fill out a kind of self-registration document when they feel the urge to gamble. If you explain it correctly and the person does it properly, they will be aware of their cognitive distortion.

To do so, you can show them the most typical biases that speculators incur and ask them which ones they identify with the most. Once you have done this, the person must understand that such cognitive distortions are largely responsible for their motivation to keep playing.

To change them, it is important to question and exchange them for thoughts based on objectivity and reality. This is achievable through Socratic interrogations and guided discovery. Here a person asks himself what evidence they have to maintain a certain thought. For example: “How am I so sure that my method will not fail? Does winning or losing really depend on me? What is the evidence? ”

Concluding notes on pathological gamblers

After practicing Socratic interrogations with oneself and noticing wrong conclusions, a person will be more inclined to change his way of thinking. To do so, they must review all the questions asked and come up with a rational answer. It becomes their mental mantra in that moment. For example: “I have no control over a machine that works randomly”, “I have won sometimes, but the data indicates that I have lost much more so that the winnings do not compensate for the losses”.

With practice, the gambler will become aware of the uselessness of the behavior. They will realize that the problem only creates new problems. Finally, the player should be able to lose interest and stop playing.