Dr. Mary Donohue in SFT: “Micro breaks are a way to train your brain when it’s tricking you"

The Safer Gambling Talks return with another episode featuring Dr. Mary Donohue, CEO at The Digital Wellness Center and Digital Psychologist, and Simon Vincze, Casino Guru's Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling.

This episode focuses on how micro breaks help reset your brain and allow you to stay in control. The conversation with Dr. Donohue focuses on her work in the field of safer gambling, which she prefers to call "sustainable play" or "playing well", and how micro breaks actually work and can impact player behavior and well-being for the better.

Dr. Donohue talks about the importance of knowing your cues as a player, and asks – What are a person’s cues to sort of stop? Micro-breaks are a vital component of prevention and ensure that players can understand these cues better and grasp their gambling behavior fully in the moment – are they having fun, what is their dopamine level like, and more.

The goal is to help gamblers clear their prefrontal cortex of the "fog" that settles when they gamble for too long, and creating a smart way to break this pattern such as micro breaks is important.

Micro breaks are designed to help dissipate this so-called fog, which, if left unaddressed, could render players unable to make rational decisions about their gambling or even limit their ability to know that they are not making rational decisions.

She talks about the importance of gamifying the helpers and pointersthat can help players steer away from gambling-related harm to achieve that and engage in this sort of safe gaming that allows them to feel that they are getting something out of this process, such as points and leaderboards.

Dr. Donohue talks about the use of Droodles, an innovative solution by The Digital Wellness Center, which seeks to help players take those breaks and reflect, but she is also very much aware that a solution like that can never work 100% of the time. Rather, it’s a "seatbelt" that is preventative.

The Droodles are called "puzzles," but Dr. Donohue is also aware that in order for this solution to work, it has to look like entertainment, as she puts it – something that your prefrontal cortex would like.

The conversation approaches various topics, including the protection of players and who specifically should be tasked with the task in the first place. Vincze also explores how artificial intelligence could be harnessed to help create a safer industry, thanks to AI-powered tools that specifically help players to steer clear of harm.

Image credit: Casino Guru News