Pleasure: true or false?

It’s important to be clear about the difference between genuine pleasure and false pleasure. Pleasure and reward are vital to our survival. It is these emotions that we derive from sex and good food, for example, that ensure we continue to reproduce and eat healthily. These activities give us a genuine boost that lifts our mood above the norm. When the effect wears off, we are not left feeling low. Indeed, there is often a lingering satisfaction that can remain with us for life.

False pleasures leave no lingering satisfaction. On the contrary, they leave us feeling below par. The illusion of pleasure that they give us is nothing more than the partial alleviation of discomfort, like taking off tight shoes. Would you wear tight shoes all day, just for the ‘pleasure’ of taking them off?

Genuine pleasures leave us feeling happy. False pleasures leave us feeling empty. Many gamblers believe that gambling gives them pleasure, but I’ve yet to meet a gambler who claims it makes them happy. Happiness is the sure sign of genuine pleasure and your happiness is the ultimate aim of his book.

Remember this distinction as you read on. It will help you realise and accept that gambling gives you no genuine pleasure whatsoever.

Excerpt From
The Easy Way to Stop Gambling: Take control of your life
Allen Carr

There are some things in that book that I agreed with and many I didn't, however that excerpt regarding that false sense of pleasure when we take off tight shoes to be very true. That was one of the few sentences that stuck with me after reading that book. It was a nice to read a different perspective from the usual GA, therapy and CBT material.

Hi Aries, thank you for the feedback, as the saying goes, we keep what works for us and just let the rest goes. What I find most inspiring in this book is this,

“Gambling gives you no genuine pleasure of crutch; you are not making a sacrifice; there is nothing to give up and no reason to feel deprived.