08/01/2026
January is here, and for many this feels like the flattest time of the year. The Samaritans say 20% of people experience depression during this period. After the rush of Christmas and New Year's and the inevitable post-slump, you may be looking for a quick fix to spike your mood.
What Is ‘The Chase’?
The chase refers to a person who continues to gamble in the hope they can recover the money they’ve lost. If you’re struggling to stop gambling, it’s because it's working exactly by design.
Dopamine floods the brain, not just with wins, but significantly during the anticipation and near-misses. This makes ‘almost winning’ feel nearly as good as hitting the jackpot. Over time, you may also feel the need to gamble more money to get that same rush.
Gambling also provides intermittent reinforcement. Unlike predictable rewards, you get rewarded at random intervals. This is what makes it so hard to walk away.
Accepting the loss
Even after putting all the barriers in place, many people still struggle with the feeling of the chase. Although it’s a process, there are ways to help you manage urges and rewrite your brain.
One of the hardest but most rewarding things to do when getting over the chase is to forget the money you lost and move on from it. Worrying about losses and falsely thinking you just need one more ‘big win’ will just push you further down the wrong path.
It’s extremely hard, but accepting this is the first step to moving on.
If you’re worried about debt, there are many organisations out there that can help you get your finances back on track. Find out more about these organisations here.
How To Get Over ‘The Chase’?
Healing from any addiction isn’t linear, you will always have good days and bad days. But going cold turkey to start is obviously daunting. The first few days in particular leave many people feeling anxious and irritable. Still, once you’ve reached key milestones (such as one day, one week, and one month) you may feel less of a need to gamble and be able to distance yourself from it.
A lot of gamblers crave the feeling of being in control or having agency while gambling. But this is an illusion, as you are never in control — the house is. You can feel a sense of real control by applying routine to other areas of your life, particularly in early recovery. Schedule your days, pre-plan your spending and make sure you have barriers in place like Gamban for bad days. Stick to what you’ve planned and it will be less easy to slip into old habits.
Healthy Dopamine
You may feel flat in the days and weeks after stopping gambling, so filling your time with healthy dopamine activities is key.
The first and probably most obvious is exercise - yes, we know you’ve heard this all before! If exercise isn’t usually part of your daily routine, start small with a brisk 15-minute walk. You’ll be surprised how consistent exercise and working towards fitness goals can fill you with a sense of achievement and boost that dopamine.
If exercise isn’t really your thing, consider turning to something else which you can work at and feel a sense of accomplishment. Without gambling, a lot of people find they need something else to fill the time. Think back to something you used to enjoy, it could be reading or something creative like a musical instrument.
It can be hard to force yourself back into a hobby, but try working on this consistently, even for just 20 minutes a day. Count the number of steps, pages or days you have applied yourself to something and this will help you repair the dopamine circuitry in your brain, which gambling has made reliant on short term gratification.
Support Systems
Leaving gambling behind means you may have to step away from certain activities and social circles, leaving you at a loss for what to do.
The good news is that there are thousands of other people out there who feel the same. Connecting with them makes the process feel much easier.
- Online forums, such as Reddit, allow you to connect with other like-minded people and discuss issues anonymously.
- GamCare runs regular chatrooms, where users can use live text chat to talk about issues related to gambling harms with other people in similar situations, supported by one of their Advisers.
- Beacon offers gambling-related harm treatment and support across the North West of England, including the Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire, Fylde, Cumbria, and Lancaster. If you get help through Beacon, you will also have access to the Trek Therapy ‘Wellbeing Walks’ programme, which has been a core element of BCT’s aftercare offer, providing free monthly scheduled activities.
- The NHS offers a range of services and support for individuals experiencing gambling addiction or gambling-related harm.
- Gordon Moody offers free specialised support, treatment and practical advice for those affected by problem gambling.
Understanding how your brain works
For some, understanding how your brain works and why you feel this way can be extremely helpful. Read up on gambling addiction and brain chemistry, which will help you understand yourself and your triggers more. This is also a helpful thing to do when feeling the urge to gamble. Understand why and how, which reinforces why you need to stop.
Remember, Gamban is free to all UK residents through TalkBanStop. Putting multiple layers in place so you have something to fall back on is key. The National Gambling Helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call an advisor on 0808 8020 133.
