Days Since Last Betting: 7
Yesterday I completed what I found was a very useful task/tool, a Cost-Benefit analysis of Gambling where you list the benefits of gambling broken down into Short Term and Long Term, and then do the same for Not Gambling. The idea is to help identify some reasons why I bet, to reinforce the negative consequences of doing so and how they compare to the positives, and to have a quick reference to go to whenever urges do occur as a reminder to how the benefits will not outweigh the downsides.
For the benefits, I listed the following
- Relive Stress – Short Term
- Potential Money – Gain Short Term
- Escape from problems – Short Term
- Avoid Boredom – Short Term
- Fun / Euphoria – Short Term
- Remove the urge to gamble
For the Disadvantages(costs) – I listed the followign
- Potential Money Loss – Short Term
- Worse financial situaiton – Long Term
- Lose sleep – Long Term
- Added Stress – Long Term
- Casue difficulty with relationships – Long Term
The glaring thing that stands out with the resulting lists is that all of the benefits tend to be short and usually very short term whereas the disadvantages tend to have a much more long term impact. Another thing that stood out to me is that the benefits and downsides are closely related with most short-term benefits later turning into more significant long-term disadvantages.
I hope to complete some similar exercises over the coming days and weeks, and this evening I plan to attend the topic group here.