Cognitive distortions are very common brain-brained cognitive treatments, when we talk about mental disorders, such as those suffered by pathological players, become even more important because in many cases they are the origin or among the factors that feed them.
The game is one of the most primitive activities that exist, in the history of humanity it is possible to find names of famous characters obsessed with the game, such as Emperor Claudius, Dostoyevsky and the conqueror Casanova are just a few examples.
- It wasn’t until 1980 that the game began to become more relevant.
- Which could lead to serious problems in social.
- Personal or professional life.
- That’s where the DSM-III included it as a diagnostic category.
When we talk about pathological play we mean games that involve luck, so video games do not fall into this category, although this does not mean that they do not generate dependence.
The pathological game to which we will refer is characterized, according to the diagnostic manuals, by a loss of control over the act of play and by the establishment of a relationship of dependence. The patient continues to play, even if it has negative consequences.
Currently, pathological play has ceased to be classified as a boost control disorder to integrate into DSM-5 addiction disorders, as it shares many characteristics with the latter.
The patient’s unsuccessful efforts to resist the desire to play lead to the total decline of his personal, family and/or professional goals.
Pathological players have certain irrational beliefs or cognitive distortions in their minds that make them addicted to the game.
Cognitive distortions are prejudices that we experience when processing information, they are not necessarily pathological, since we all have them to a greater or lesser degree, however, we have to change them when they are very frequent and prevent us from moving forward.
These typical distortions of pathological players are
The first step is to point out the distortion to the pathological player.
Cognitive biases are not easy to detect because they have been automated over time, one way to detect them is to ask the recreational patient to register when he wants to play, if we explain it correctly and the patient does it correctly, he will be aware of the cognitive distortions he commits.
To do this we can show the most common biases committed by patients with gambling and ask which or who they identify the most, once this is done, the person must understand that, to a large extent, these cognitive distortions are responsible for the continuation of the game.
To change them, it is important to question and exchange them for thoughts based on objectivity and reality, through socratic questioning and guided discovery.
The patient wonders what evidence or evidence he or she has to maintain this thinking. How am I so sure my method is foolproof?What’s the evidence?
After practicing socratic dialogue with yourself and realizing these filtering errors, we will be more likely to change this way of thinking, for this it is necessary to review all the questions that have been asked and give a rational answer, which will now be your mental mantra.
For example: “I have no control over a random machine”, “Sometimes I won, but the data indicates that I lost a lot more. Isn’t it worth it?”
With practice, the player realizes the futility of his behavior and that his problem only creates new problems: economic, family or professional. Therefore, the person is expected to eventually lose interest and leave the game.