People ask me sometimes, Dr. Phil,
do you think problems are as simple
as you make them out to be?
And the truth is, I don't think problems are simple at all,
I think problems are complex.
I think they're often layered in many different ways
and touch different parts of your life.
So I don't think problems are simple at all,
but I think the solutions are often simple.
I think as complex as a problem may be,
sometimes you have to behave your way to success.
I have a terrible, terrible gambling addiction.
When I'm gambling,
I don't have to worry or think about all my problems.
I have won multiple jackpots,
two or three in one night and one upto,
maybe almost $20,000.
And I don't necessarily have much to show for it.
I have probably six or more loan companies I owe,
15 credit cards, pawned my jewelry and my purses.
I'm currently about $90,000 in debt,
but also taken about $32,000 out of my 401k.
If I knew how to stop it, it wouldn't be a problem.
Any of the habits that you have,
let's say you're an alcoholic, a drug addict,
you're addicted to smoking, alcohol, gambling, whatever,
I can cure all of them 100% of the time
if you allowed me to control your environment.
You let me parachute you into the Antarctic, you're cured.
Right?
Think about it.
You say I've tried to quit smoking for 10 years
and can't do it,
you let me parachute your happy ass into the Antarctic,
you are no longer a smoker.
Why?
Because the environment doesn't support it,
there is no opportunity to do it.
And that's an extreme example to make a point.
If you program your environment that doesn't allow you
or supports you doing what you don't wanna do,
you've taken a giant step
towards getting rid of that behavior.
There aren't 10 casinos where they live, there are two.
She works at one, she gambles in the other.
If she goes down there and goes to management
and puts herself and her picture on a watch list and says,
I'm sick, if you take my money, you are victimizing me.
They will say,
I am happy to exclude you from our gambling community.
She has essentially parachuted herself into the Antarctic.
Okay, so that's why I say it's not about willpower,
it's about programming.
Programming where it makes it very difficult
for her to gamble.
Then at the same time,
she has been through some difficult things in her life,
that has to be dealt with as well.
And if you take gambling away,
she's likely to start getting depressed or anxious,
I get that, it's serving a purpose
even though not very well.
That's why I said, you do need to address that,
and you also need to replace that behavior
with a more constructive behavior.
Start volunteering, start giving to other people.
I'm telling you,
if you have a void in your life, the easiest way to fill it.
If you have an emptiness, a loneliness,
the easiest way to fill it
is to give away what you most need.
If you're feeling like you don't matter,
you're feeling like you don't count,
you're feeling like you're just disconnected.
Then go find someone
that seems to be worse off than you are.
Maybe it's skid row, maybe it's a soup kitchen,
maybe it's foster, whatever,
and give away what you need the most.
It will fill you up faster than anything you can do.
And if she starts getting a high from helping other people,
then maybe she won't be as likely to use this as a crutch.
So that's why I said, is it a complex problem?
Yes.
But program your environment,
get help, and find a new way to get high.
Those three things will go further
to getting her where she needs to be
than $122,000 of losses at a casino,
I can tell you for sure.
I could be wrong.
I'm not, but I could be.
That's the bubble over my head guys, thank you.
(upbeat music)