By Dr. Mario Di Nunzio, Psychologist
That's why you can't stop buying "scratch cards"
The game clouds the mind, hypnotizes and cancels reasoning.
We have been playing for years, we do not win or win little, but the hope of a winning ticket continues without ever diminishing.
The sums of money already spent are not impressive, because the ticket is cheap. Only if you think about how much you have spent in a year, then certainly the amount spent makes you think and reflect; calculate online:
(*) assuming that their cost increases by 5% per year
Psychological State of the Player
Gambling is based on the state of need and the illusion of a life-changing win.
It often happens that you buy a ticket, scratch it and win nothing. You get pissed off because you are disappointed in that moment.
But it is as if nothing had happened. You think: "Sooner or later that moment has to come! The others have won. Sooner or later it will happen to me too! Woe to me if I'm not there. If I don't play my lucky ticket, someone else will get it! This doesn't have to happen!"
The next time is the same, the ticket never goes out, or you win a paltry amount which has the effect of creating even more hope and attachment.
But the conviction is stronger, irreducible: "And" it's just a matter of time ... sooner or later he has to get out! "
Meanwhile, money continues to be thrown away. The ticket is cheap, you don't even notice the money spent.
It is difficult to give up the dream of winning: it is hoped that everything can happen at any moment.
Sometimes you think that you should calm down, but you can't: you are immersed in a spell, a perverse mechanism that makes you believe that it is possible for you to win too!
The reality is that it is very unlikely to win because the winning tickets are so few, scattered in a sea of ticket offices. Few winning numbers on a sample of millions of players, scattered all over Italy.
But what are the mental and psychological mechanisms for which, despite repeated failures, he has held back in the game?
The link to the game was triggered because the belief that "you can win" was installed in people's minds.
They've installed in people's minds that with a small amount you can get hold of a life-changing amount of money for you and your family!
“If you don't buy a ticket you are a fool. It's your fault if you throw away all that goodness. The odds of winning are low, but it's possible. It's just a matter of time!
All this hypnotizes, makes you dream, doesn't make you think. Cancel your reasoning skills.
It does not make you think and does not make you realize that you have been playing for years, that you have spent a lot of money, you have only won small sums of money, often re-played and that you have only fixed you to the fantasy of sure victory.
You say to yourself: "Sooner or later it has to happen. I imagine that moment ... I scratch and I discover a nice win. Just that money that my family and I need!"
You already see yourself celebrating with your family, you see the bank account going up and all the worries ending.
All a dream. All illusions. A mistake that has lasted for years.
A virtual reality that does not let you stay with your feet on the ground and that hides the harsh reality of every day, a difficult, tiring reality that you do not accept.
How can it be done? How can you get out of this state of hypnosis?
The game is not a charity
The game does not help you, it does not care about you and your difficulties. There is no point in looking for shortcuts and help. Open your eyes and accept reality. Even if you get distracted with dreams, that is your reality that you don't want to accept.
The reality is that you don't win or at least very few people win.
You are left with a dream and the harsh reality.
The game is devilishly designed just to grab money.
A mountain of money for the benefit of a few people, disreputable individuals who live blissfully in their tax havens.
Meanwhile, however, the "scam" reigns. There are those who speculate on people's needs; the state does not intervene and cannot even get what it deserves.
But you don't care about those people who live in those dream villas or the state's income, do you?
You care about the chance to win. The ticket is cheap and gives away a dream of millionaire winnings.
But are you really sure that this win will come one day?
A dive into the mind of a casual player
This morning I took the usual walk with the dog and the usual stop at the bar.
I bought a ticket.
I have not won anything.
Even though I knew it I was still disappointed.
I am angry that the failure to win has interrupted the hope of help
for a small accumulation of one of my projects.
I had left the house happy. I have a plan to carry out, with some help I can carry it out. With a small win I would have increased the savings of the modest sum set aside.
I am disappointed, like how much you hope for something that then does not come true.
I realize that subconsciously I am considering the game as a parent to ask for help.
A parent who has done so much to delude us: “Don't worry, I'm here. When you need something, you can count on it. It's so easy to win. Just play. I will take away all economic worries! "
You feel reassured and continually renew your bet to receive help.
You keep betting without ever making any money.
We think of the game as a good parent who helps. Over time you discover that this "parent" cares about your money, is indifferent to you, insensitive to your problems and that he is cheating you with constant promises of winning that he will never keep.
It is "just" an illusion, it is not a good parent.
The trick of those who created this money machine is to have convinced everyone that the game helps in times of need.
You realize that the game doesn't give a damn. You do not exist, your problems do not exist, he has total disregard for your concerns and expectations.
We think of the game as a good father who helps. When you discover that you have not won, you experience the emotions of disappointment, anger and a sense of abandonment.
You feel ignored, sidelined, abandoned to a side that should be close to you in times of need. You continue to play with the unconscious hope of his repentance, become aware of the presence of those who really need and give help.
The rational part reproaches us for these feelings and the inability to send the game to hell, but now an addiction has been created.
Addiction is believing in a spell, in a spell, in a magic wand for something we need and cannot do without.
Gambling addiction is a form of immaturity, a way to look for shortcuts in life, a refusal to grow up and face reality.
But the game is only an artifice to take, without giving anything.
The "scam" is in "having convinced everyone that it is easy to win, and it is only our fault if we do not manage to break away.
