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Christmas Lottery: How Our Mind Reacts When We Get El Gordo
Psychology
Making decisions with the rush of winning the Fat can be comparable to doing it under the influence of having had several glasses of alcohol, according to experts
Check here if your number has been awarded
More than a formula for earn money, the Christmas Lottery draw is usually seen as an event with a whole tradition behind it, as something that is shared with family and friends, which generates delusion and what does a esperanza to improve our lives for next year. And, although it is true that probabilities It is not uncommon for many to fantasize about this possibility in recent weeks (1 in 100.000 in the best of cases), especially in a year marked by the consequences of the pandemic. In fact, as explained by the psychologist Elena Huguet, from the En Equilibrio Mental team, this attitude responds to the need for something that can give us hope in a context as difficult as the one we are experiencing because, in some way, we think it can be something that helps us change things and in a way gives us a certain feeling of control.
But of course, fantasize It is one thing and that the Christmas Lottery really touches you is quite another thing. The Therapychat experts have described in a simplified way the phases that the mind usually goes through when faced with the news that it has been the Fat Christmas. First of all there is a “Initial high” and at that moment the neurotransmitters of happiness work at such a speed that one can feel that they have found the solution to many of their problems. But that initial high is followed by a “back to reality”. The organism always tends to homeostasis, that is, to recover from any change. And the same is what happens with our emotional state.
After that rush that the knowledge of the news that we had won the lottery gave us, we immediately get used to that novelty and we return to more or less before winning it and we will continue to aspire to more, as we have always done. «This is what some authors call ‘hedonic adaptation’. We get used to everything or almost everything, even to the fact that we have won the lottery », they reveal in Therapychat.
[You can check if your Christmas Lottery number has been awarded as of December 22 in the ABC tenths checker]
Apparently this high followed by a return to reality seems a simple process, but the truth is that, as explained by Aída Rubio, psychologist and coordinator of the TherapyChat team, it involves more psychological complications than is believed. «The important thing is to act cold, planning step by step, and with your mind set on investing for your happiness, so that, in this way, that money can revert to more quality time for you, in fun and fulfilling experiences, and in taking care of you and yours with a head, and not in an immediate but fleeting gratification, “he clarifies. Therefore, to manage those emotions in a way, he launches the following proposals: maintain realistic and adjusted expectations, keep cognitive distortions aside, let the “Psychological drunkenness” before making decisions and having a list of priorities ready.
1. Real and adjusted expectations
When you don’t expect something, you are not harmed if it doesn’t happen but you enjoy it if it does happen. But if you wait for something with all your might and that, finally, does not come, the blow of disappointment can occur. One of the keys that can help, even if it hurts, is to know the real odds to win a specific prize.
2. Avoid cognitive distortions
Avoid cognitive distortions, that is, keep those irrational thoughts with which we judge reality, such as thinking that “a number is going to play because you dreamed it” or “because it is your mother’s birthday”, “or because it is the date you got your first job.” All these are, as they explain in TherapyChat, thoughts that start from not very logical premises and that, therefore, should be banished because they lead to equally illogical conclusions.
3. Make consistent decisions
It is important to let the “psychological drunkenness” pass before deciding something because one of the problems that occurs when you earn a significant amount of money is that you cannot keep your feet on the ground. Thus, people tend to get carried away by the emotional rush and to make decisions and make changes in their life led by that state. The result in these cases is similar to what would have make decisions while under the influence of alcohol. Therefore, the TherapyChat expert advises that, if you win the lottery, the best investment you can make is to make the decision to let things rest before telling others and making big changes. Once that “psychological binge” effect wears off, you will be able to make decisions in a more mature and healthy way for you.
4. Make your priority list
What is the most urgent thing you have to solve financially in your life? Having a list of priorities prepared, a compendium of all the needs (not whims) that we have to cover or even having the contact of a good financial advisor at hand can help to make some of that money in a rational way, without wasting it or going bankrupt. soon.
What if I don’t win the Christmas Lottery?
To build healthy emotions around the possibility of whether or not the Christmas Lottery touches us, we must have our goals always present and thank and value the good we have in life because, like Elena Huguet, that will allow us to have a greater feeling of control. Thus, the expert proposes to carry out activities that are pleasant, enjoyable and that also add value, not only to us, but also to others. And then, according to the psychologist Silvia González del Valle, it is convenient to build positive reinforcement valuing what we have done for ourselves and others: «If we manage to appreciate and value the little things that we live in our day to day and we are aware that we are an active part of the good that we are capable of generating and that in reality there is no to do with a matter of chance but with our attitude and our effort, we will feel better about ourselves, “he says.