There are three kinds of gamblers. The professional gambler makes a living from gambling and will harness their skills in a particular game and not rely on luck. The recreational gambler plays for fun and means to spend time with friends, nothing more.
For the problematic gambler, the experience finds it more and more difficult to refrain from the allure of impulsive gambling urges. Their gambling can lead to detrimental consequences, with long-term effects, thus requiring them to seek assistance.
Problematic gambling requires intervention and the individual cannot do it alone. Thus the relevance of organisations like GamStop can intervene and help when asked.
What is GamStop and How Does it Work?
A licensing prerequisite for online and land-based casinos is that they sign up with GamStop.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is tasked with the protection of vulnerable individuals from the harms of gambling. Problematic gambling is a consequence of excessive gambling which can leave the individual broken and broken.
Understanding how Gamstop works is important for players seeking to take control of their online gambling habits, as it allows them to self-exclude from participating casino websites. The GamStop scheme is a useful instrument for promoting responsible gaming. GamStop is an online platform, affiliated with the UKGC, where individuals can register to seek help. Once the registration process is complete, the site proceeds to restrict your activities across all gambling platforms.
Available through UKGC-licensed casinos, the restrictions are intended to provide the gambler time out to recover from gambling activities. The gambler can place 6 months, 1 year or 5-year restrictions on themselves which GamStop will honour until the last second. After this, the gambler has to contact the organisation if they want to return to gambling, or just opt to refrain altogether.
What Can Gamstop Improve?
First off, it’s important to acknowledge that problematic and addictive behaviour will always have a negative impact. Intervention programs at all times will try to ensure that the recovery process aids in positive and sustainable changes in the individual. Therefore the need to assist in multi aspects of the individual’s life may cause stressors and hamper recovery.
The self-exclusion feature of the program is possibly the most important first step. By excluding the gambler from all platforms, even from attempting to open new accounts or entering new casinos. This strategy intends on giving the gambler time to fix the damage that has begun to be evident in their lives because of the gambling.
As it’s not only the financial considerations which could have fallen prey to gambling, family and friend relationships are also considered. The negative behavioural patterns which may have been due to gambling receive attention for repair and mending.
Gambling Behaviour
Gambling addiction is all-consuming and the gambler no longer feels in control, they are driven by impulses and is a disorder affecting all facets of their lives. Problematic gamblers are also driven by impulses, yet they are still able to make the conscious choice to change their behavioural pattern before they spiral out of control.
Recovery requires more than just exclusion from gambling platforms. GamStop further assists gamblers to find counselling and support programs to overcome their problematic or addictive gambling. The information provided is from programs which specialise in gambling addiction ad would provide the care needed towards recovery.
Financial Management
Problematic gamblers are secretive and try to hide their gambling from those close to them. The toil either displayed through their behaviour, impacts their finances. The more they gamble and lose, the more they will need to finance their activities.
GamStop provides financial services through planning and advice. Along with affiliated financial service advisers, providing free services, they can assist gamblers to find ways to recover from the financial impacts of gambling.
Family Relationships
Families are often the first and most impacted by the consequences of problematic gambling. It is not only the financial changes that are stressors, there are other negative impacts on the family as well.
Prone to aggression, sleep deprivation, and mental and health challenges – the intimate partner is the first to deal with these changes. Some would resort to substance abuse which further exacerbates the situation, particularly if there are children involved.
Here too GamStop can provide information on support groups specialising in support for family and friends of those affected by gambling. These too provide numerous resources for understanding, being supportive in recovery and overcoming the effects.
Conclusion
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) collaborates closely with Gamstop, an effective self-exclusion program, to promote responsible gambling practices and provide individuals in the United Kingdom with the necessary tools to control their online gambling activities.
The effects of gambling are a societal problem which needs to be addressed and particularly provided support to those afflicted. GamStop’s free service has been effective in curbing the risk of problematic gamblers. The drawback with the platform has been its limitation to UK casinos, yet those who have signed have shown a commitment to see the exclusion to the end.
