I'm no doctor in this field BUT! from a personal view point if you are actually "gambling" and not playing for fun/proffit you should either stop (or find help). If you feel that you can not control how much can allow yourself to basically burn on poker or any other type of entertainment you should not do that something. I know it's easy to say rather than do but I would not play with fire... I mean if you would be an alocoholic you would not think that "2-3 shoots is not that much" would be a good justification for your actions.
Any activity that you feel/is damaging for you should be stoped completely and not managed (if possible of course).
The poker player in me would be happy to see a guy/gal who would gamble away their kids trustfund on the other hand =))
...The gambling side of poker isn't mentally healthy for our brains...
this is a personal exp. as I see it. I was never a gambling person, never had the
need to "play back" the $ I lost nor need a deposit from money I could not alow to spend on something else. If you can not afford or stop - dont do it.
If you are not planing on becoming a pro that follows strickt BR rules &/or can afford to lose you should look at poker as entertainment a circuis ticket, luck/smarts contest if you can not do that - dont do it.
...I'm only $60 in debt in one year...
this is were I think your problem is you think that poker ows you to get a return,that thous 60$ will comeback with % - it does not... or rather does not have to, it can, but does not have to
- If we gamble responsibly and play poker for fun or passion, will it minimise the mental affects?
- Can we mentally recover from any issues, like to much dopamine in the brain? (I don't want to be a dull old man for my whole life)
- Can it have any major effects?
-1. if you are not becoming a pro that is the only way you should be thinking about poker
-2. yes. most therapies relly exactly on replacment - dancing/youga/painting/.... i think you got the idea oа replacing bad dopamin activity with a
personal good one, something that gets you off but is not that damaging
-3. financaly - hell yeah =) people sell their grandmoms jewelry/tv/sofas to play
P.S. on a personal note - srsly bro, 99% of gambling problems come from idiotic BR managment. Learnt it, there are 100 and 100 of mathematicians an pros who've spend hours of theory and practice for smart pro gambling life and thei give out that info for free. Is it realy that hard to remebmer 50BI for cash and 100BI for MTT(some rules may vary for your game of choise but I'm pretty sure there are some)
GL anyway =)