00:08At first, I won a few bets, feeling like I had cracked the system.
00:14The feeling of winning was very intoxicating, but as time went by, the number of losses
00:21outnumbered the wins.
00:25And just like that, all my savings vanished.
00:40Gambling is risking money or another item of value on an event of uncertain outcome in
00:45the hope of gaining money in return.
00:47Betting, slot machines, casino games, lotteries, and bingo are all forms of gambling.
00:55My name is Brenda, I'm 21 years old, have been battling betting addiction.
01:01I had this friend in university who was always talking about gambling.
01:06That caught my attention.
01:08Actually, he was the one who sent me the games.
01:11When I was pressing that bet, I was not very sure that I was going to win since it was
01:17my first time.
01:22After the game was over, I received a message, congratulations that you have won 4,500.
01:29I remember I was very excited.
01:31I jumped up and down.
01:33It was a very big win for me.
01:35A survey found that 84% of Kenyan teenagers have tried betting.
01:39A third of those young people bet every day.
01:43So my favourite sports that I gambled were many football, the EPL games.
01:48I was just betting because of the anxiety and the peer pressure.
01:54Immediately after my first bet, and obviously it was a win, that really kept me going.
01:59With time, I found myself thinking about betting.
02:03You should bet, you should bet, you should bet.
02:04I have to do it like every time.
02:06And that's how I ended up being an addict.
02:10Gambling triggers the release of chemicals in the brain that can be highly addictive.
02:14They create emotional highs when you win unexpectedly and can even make losing feel exciting.
02:21Predicting patterns and trying to beat the system create a false sense of skill and certainty,
02:26pushing you to bet again and again.
02:29Psychologists call this the illusion of control.
02:32Being a student and receiving such amount of money on a very short period of time
02:37without even, like, working hard.
02:39That's when I felt like I'd cracked the system.
02:42On the other side, when you lose, like, it is a very painful, bad moment for you.
02:48Chasing behaviour and gambling happens when someone continues to bet
02:52in an attempt to recover losses and get back to even.
02:55It often leads to a dangerous cycle of rising risk
02:58and a financial hole that grows deeper and deeper.
03:02I had a very huge debt with the relationship between my friends and my mum.
03:08It became very chaotic.
03:10Brenda had lost the grip of the situation and was not able to repay either of my money
03:16or her other friends' money.
03:18It was very bad and people would get angry, very angry at me.
03:24And that's how I lost all my friends.
03:28I was in a very desperate position.
03:30I would tell myself, just one more bet and I'm going to recover everything.
03:34In the gambler's fallacy, people predict the opposite outcome of the previous event,
03:40believing a win must be due after a losing streak.
03:43I didn't have any money and my only option was to take a loan.
03:49And I used all the money to press the bets.
03:54And at that point, I was very assured that I was actually going to win.
03:58But unfortunately, I found out that I actually lost.
04:04It was very painful for me.
04:06I didn't have any money.
04:07I didn't have anyone like I can talk to.
04:10And that's when I realized that I have to do something.
04:14We have heard youth committing suicide because they have lost a bet.
04:19Brenda, she walked into this facility committed to attaining something, recovery from addiction.
04:26The temptation to go back to it was so, so, so strong for her.
04:30You need to deny yourself some of those things that you're used to.
04:32If it is social media platforms, if it is friends, if it's gambling dance,
04:37you need to exclude yourself to all of that.
04:39And we are here to help, of course.
04:40We put them into support groups that discuss their problems and encourage each other.
04:46After the counseling, I realized that most of my friends were mainly addicts.
04:52And I sat down and told myself that if I was able to release myself from the betting,
04:58I can change another person's perspective about betting.
05:02She has met several other people.
05:05Her being one of those that recovered from addiction,
05:08she's now running a business that is doing very, very well.
05:14My biggest lesson was true world is built, it's not come world.
05:37Now,
05:37your world is a中國-os,
05:39the end.ến
05:40эп2
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