Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life

Book excerpt: A research-based guide to controlling the destructive urge to gamble From Howard Shaffer, PhD, a noted expert on gambling addiction, and Harvard Health Publications comes Change Your Gambling, Change your Life, a landmark new book which explains how gambling problems are related to other underlying issues: such as anxiety, mood fluctuation, difficulty with impulse control, and substance abuse problems. Dr. Shaffer offers a series of self-tests to help evaluate the degree of gambling problem and analyze the psychological and social context of the behavior, with specific strategies and approaches for ending the problems with simple tools that anyone can do. Explains why many people have a problem controlling their urge to gamble and how that can be corrected Includes a toolbox of resources for anyone who wants to stop the vicious cycle of gambling Offers advice for avoiding slips and preventing backslides and how to deal with the consequences With candor and expert advice, Change Your Gambling, Change Your Life provides proven techniques for controlling the urge to gamble.