Hi Saruniks,
With apologies for the wall of text that follows.
I know exactly what you mean when you say you feel you're burning up inside and cannot rest as I've had first hand experience of this myself on a number of occasions, both inside and outside of poker.
Of course first & foremost I would always strongly recommend that you seek proper medical advice if you are at all worried about any symptoms. Whilst I and fellow community members can offer up suggestions as to what it might be and what you can try to help, there is absolutely no comparison for proper appropriate medical review & advice. Your doctor will always see you in strict confidence and will never mind you approaching them even if it turns out to be nothing to worry about.
It is possible to become addicted to something, anything in fact and poker is no exception. In this scenario poker will likely be always on your mind or in your thoughts, you won't be able to rest and will feel compelled to play.
Try to take a break from poker for a couple of days. Distracting yourself by trying other hobbies or activities, in particular ones that interest you might help.
As they say, "variety is the spice of life", it's always good to have a variety of interests of which one of them can of course be poker.
Of course even if you can't get poker out of your head, it's not always the case that you will be addicted to it. You might just be a little run down at the moment (tired) or frustrated at something and focusing more on one activity subconsciously. Frustration can easily result from a run of back luck in poker, but could equally be an external factor such as work/college, relationships, money worries etc or a combination of several at once. The actual cause might not always be obvious at first and will not always be serious.
As you might already be aware from previous forum posts, I personally have been suffering from a condition called OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) for over 10 years. I won't bore you with all the in's and out's, but basically I have received a lot of different help, medication & therapy over the past few years with varying degrees of success.
Anyway, the point I am long-windily trying to make is that my condition has a knock on effect on mood (depression), anxiety and frustration/anger. Even at the best of times I have to work hard sometimes to control these factors and even the slightest thing can send my frustration levels into warp mode.
The problem with all of these factors (mood, anxiety, frustration, anger etc) is that they are quick to be activated but take time to fall back down.
One isolated poker bad beat for example might be annoying and lead to a "damn" or "ffs" going through your mind (or the chat box
), but you can easily tolerate these and your frustration will fall back down after a while. A series of bad beats in quick sucession however just keeps building up frustation to higher and higher levels and will need longer to fall back down.
I've found that the first key for myself personally is awareness. Be aware of how you are feeling at any given time. Try to rate yourself on 0 to 10 scale in terms of overall mood, frustration etc.
I personally try to avoid starting a poker session when I'm feeling low or frustrated or limit myself to just a short session instead of a heavy grind or important tournament. Not always that easy I do appreciate.
In terms of controlling mood, frustation, ability to relax etc, I've found some of the following really useful:
- Simply taking a short break from whatever I'm doing and return to it later
- Going out for a short walk. Fresh air does wonders for the head as well as the lungs and legs
- Breathing exercises/techniques #
- Mindfullness (sitting and focusing your mind on a single happy thing or location)/meditation #
- Always allow yourself a good half an hour or more to unwind and relax before going to bed. Don't attempt to go straight to bed after a heavy poker session or working late etc
- "Variety is the spice of life" - have lots of different hobbies or activities that you like doing and mix them up. Don't just concentrate all of your time on one alone.
- "Short & sweet" - I always play better poker when doing several short sessions as opposed to one long session.
# You can find some good techniques on an internet search, but always seek medical advice and guidance first.
Ok anyone still following at this stage probably deserves a medal, sorry for length of the post.
The jist of what I wanted to put across however is don't worry adversely, it might be nothing and you might just be a little run down or frustrated with something, but do seek professional medical guidance if at all concerned.
Try to think of whether you are playing poker because you enjoy it or because you feel compelled to do it?
And try to take regular breaks and split up your poker sessions with other activities that you enjoy doing.
Hope some of this helps, happy to expand on any aspect if anyone wants more info and do of course let us know how you're getting on. You know we are all there to help you if you need it
Take care buddy and give me a shout anytime you feel you need a chat
Warmest regards,
Bart
