If prediction markets are taking your money, time, sleep, or attention, the pattern may feel like an addiction. You do not need to wait for a diagnosis or win back the loss before you stop. You also do not need to settle the argument over whether the product is "trading" or "gambling." Event contracts still put money at risk on an uncertain result. The practical work is to close access, protect essential funds, prepare for the cues that pull you back, and bring another person into the plan.

There is no prediction-market-specific diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR, and research on commercial platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi is still early. The American Psychiatric Association's explanation of gambling disorder provides the established clinical frame when the pattern includes chasing losses, repeated unsuccessful attempts to stop, concealment, financial harm, or damage to work and relationships. A licensed clinician can assess what is happening in your case.

Are prediction markets gambling? #

The legal label varies by product and jurisdiction, and it remains contested. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission describes event contracts on registered U.S. markets as commodity derivatives under federal jurisdiction; the same 2026 court filing reflects ongoing state challenges to that position. This guide does not give a legal classification.

For a person trying to stop, the behavioral comparison is more useful:

| Feature | Prediction markets | Sportsbooks or casinos | Recovery implication | |---|---|---|---| | What money is tied to | A future event contract that can gain or lose value | A wager or game outcome | Money remains exposed to an uncertain result | | Who sets or matches the price | An exchange, order book, broker, or counterparties | Usually an operator or game rules | Trading against other users does not remove personal financial risk | | How often action appears | New markets and changing prices can follow news throughout the day | Live games, sessions, or continuously available games | News, alerts, and price checks can become repeated cues | | Language in the product | Contracts, positions, probabilities, volume, or trading | Bets, odds, stakes, wins, or losses | Financial language can make a harmful pattern easier to rationalize | | Access controls | Platform-specific and still uneven | Operator and, in some places, jurisdiction-wide self-exclusion | A sportsbook exclusion may not block an event-contract route |

Researchers have only begun to examine commercial prediction markets as a gambling and public-health problem. A 2026 commentary in Addiction called for more research, and a 2026 Science Policy Forum warned about gambling-like design and gaps in consumer protection. Neither publication provides a prediction-market addiction rate or creates a new diagnosis.

Why prediction markets need a specific quit plan #

The parent recovery category is gambling, but the access pattern can be different enough to deserve its own shutdown list:

Ordinary news can become a market cue. Elections, inflation reports, court decisions, weather, entertainment, sports, and public statements may all lead back to a contract page.
A position can feel like research or investing. Time spent reading, modeling, or discussing probabilities can hide the point at which analysis became a route to another stake.
Prices and open positions invite repeated checking. The event may take days or months to resolve while the position changes in value.
Access may exist in several layers. A person can use an exchange directly, reach event contracts through a broker, or use a self-custody wallet and a decentralized interface.
Existing gambling barriers may not cover the route. Sportsbook self-exclusion, a gambling merchant block, or deleting one app may leave prediction markets available elsewhere.

Use has grown quickly. A Pew Research Center analysis estimated that combined global monthly volume on Kalshi and Polymarket rose from under $5 billion in September 2025 to about $24 billion in April 2026. Pew measured notional trading volume. That number is not user losses, unique users, or the number of people experiencing harm.

If you are trying to win back a loss #

Chasing can sound different on a prediction market: one better entry, one hedge, one high-confidence contract, or one more event that will repair the account. That thought is a reason to stop the session, not a market thesis.

Do not open, add to, or "average down" another position.
Cancel unfilled orders so they cannot execute later.
Save the records you need while they are available.
Protect money for housing, food, transport, medication, taxes, and bills.
Tell the person in your plan that you are trying to recover a loss.
Follow the official platform process for existing positions and eligible balances.

Closing or holding an existing position can have financial and tax consequences, and the available price may change. This guide cannot tell you how to dispose of a particular contract. Use the platform's official instructions or support and avoid turning account cleanup into a new series of trades.

1. Map every route back to a market #

Write a list based on your actual access, not only the brand you use most:

direct exchange accounts and apps;
brokerage apps that offer event contracts;
international, U.S., mobile, web, or alternate versions of a service;
crypto wallets, exchange accounts, stablecoin on-ramps, bridges, and saved addresses;
browser bookmarks, saved passwords, biometric login, and passkeys;
API keys, bots, spreadsheets, alerting tools, and market-data dashboards;
news feeds, podcasts, group chats, social accounts, and newsletters that lead to markets;
cards, bank accounts, digital wallets, or other funding routes.

Next to each route, choose a concrete action: cancel orders, resolve positions, withdraw eligible funds, self-exclude, deactivate, contact support, revoke access, delete, block, unsubscribe, or ask someone for help. One platform restriction is not a complete plan when another route remains open.

2. Use the strongest restriction each platform offers #

Platform controls change. The notes below reflect official public instructions checked on August 4, 2026. Read the current terms before acting, especially if you have open positions or orders.

Kalshi

Kalshi publishes a Voluntary Self-Exclusion process covering trading on its website, app, and API for a selected term. Its instructions warn that positions cannot be sold during the exclusion period, so review open positions first. Kalshi also says its direct exclusion does not prevent access to Kalshi products through a futures commission merchant.

Kalshi's Responsible Trading Hub lists trading breaks, voluntary opt-outs, and personal funding caps. If the goal is to quit rather than reduce activity, use the strongest fixed restriction available instead of relying only on a cap you can trade up to.

Account deactivation is a separate control. Kalshi's deactivation instructions require positions, resting orders, and the account balance to be cleared first, and the account can later be reactivated by signing in. Self-exclusion is the more relevant barrier when easy reactivation is part of your pattern.

Robinhood event contracts

Robinhood's event-contract opt-out instructions distinguish between hiding sports prediction markets and full self-exclusion. The in-app sports setting changes what is shown, but Robinhood states that a user can still trade sports event contracts while that setting is active. Do not treat it as a block.

Robinhood says full event-contract self-exclusion requires contacting Support and closing open event-contract positions before the account can be fully disabled. It also provides a separate control for event-contract notifications. Use the account-level restriction and remove notifications; hiding one category is not equivalent to stopping access.

Polymarket account deletion and self-custody access

Polymarket now publishes an official account-deletion process. It says you must close all open positions and withdraw all funds before deleting the account from settings. Polymarket says the profile and associated personal data are removed subject to its privacy and legal obligations, but past transaction history remains onchain.

Account deletion is useful, but it is not the same as a fixed self-exclusion. As of August 4, 2026, we could not verify a public Polymarket help page promising an active, platform-wide self-exclusion period. Its documentation also describes self-custody and user-controlled funds, so deleting one interface may leave a wallet or funding route available.

Use the official deletion instructions and order-management documentation, contact support if anything is unclear, and then block the apps, domains, wallet shortcuts, and funding routes you used. Never share a seed phrase or private key with support or with a person helping you quit.

Cross-platform exclusion

SelfExclude.io currently says Kalshi is fully integrated, while Polymarket, Robinhood, and several other platforms are still listed as integrations in progress. The service says it is available only in the United States and offers fixed terms of one, three, six, or twelve months. Verify the live participant list before relying on it. One enrollment does not cover a platform still marked "coming soon," or every broker, wallet, sportsbook, or casino account.

3. Block apps, domains, APIs, and market alerts #

After account restrictions are underway, remove the shortcuts:

uninstall prediction-market and associated brokerage apps;
block every direct and regional domain you used;
remove saved logins, passkeys, autofill, and bookmarks;
revoke API keys and stop bots or scripts that can submit orders;
turn off contract, price, resolution, sports, and news notifications;
unsubscribe from platform marketing and market newsletters;
leave or mute market group chats and social accounts;
remove browser extensions, widgets, and dashboards used to monitor positions.

Use the relevant Detachr instructions to block gambling on iPhone, close Android installation routes, and block sites in Chrome. Add the exact prediction-market domains yourself; a generic gambling blocklist may not classify every exchange, broker, or wallet interface as gambling.

If a trusted person holds a device or blocker passcode, agree on what they can and cannot access. Never give them a wallet seed phrase, private key, banking password, or identity document.

4. Protect money without assuming a gambling block will work #

Prediction-market deposits may travel through a bank, card, brokerage balance, crypto exchange, stablecoin, or self-custody wallet. A bank's gambling-category block may not identify every route.

Use the gambling transaction-blocking guide to ask your bank what it actually declines. Then consider the layers relevant to you:

remove saved cards and bank links from the platform;
lower transfers, cash access, or card limits when your provider supports it;
turn on real-time transaction and low-balance alerts;
separate essential bills before restricting an account;
remove one-tap crypto purchase and transfer shortcuts;
stop recurring transfers intended to fund contracts;
ask a qualified tax professional about records or obligations you do not understand.

Do not send funds to a trusted person as a workaround unless you understand the legal, tax, safety, and relationship consequences. A support person can help you review alerts or follow a written plan without taking ownership of your money or credentials.

5. Break the news-to-contract loop #

Quitting a casino app does not usually require quitting the weather, elections, sports, or economic news. Prediction markets can make ordinary information feel like a prompt to take a position.

Choose the distance that matches your pattern:

| Cue | Barrier to prepare | |---|---| | Breaking-news alert | Turn off alerts and read one scheduled summary later | | Election or court update | Use a source without embedded market prices or prediction widgets | | Inflation, jobs, or interest-rate release | Stay away from live dashboards and plan another activity during the release | | Game or tournament | Follow the sports-betting plan before the event starts | | Group chat sharing probabilities | Mute the chat or say you are not discussing markets | | Urge to "just check" a position | Message your support person and use a non-market source for the underlying news |

If sports contracts are part of the pattern, the guide to quitting sports betting adds plans for live events, seasons, odds content, and game-day social pressure. If politics or financial news is the cue, schedule when and where you will read it instead of monitoring continuously.

6. Name the pattern without debating the label #

Use facts you can verify:

total deposits, withdrawals, realized losses, debt, and essential bills affected;
time spent researching, trading, monitoring, or recovering from outcomes;
sleep, work, relationships, or activities displaced;
attempts to stop, cut down, or set limits;
concealment of positions, money, accounts, or time;
movement from one platform to another after a restriction;
borrowing, chasing, or increasing stakes after losses.

In a May 2026 online survey of 2,045 U.S. adults, 85% agreed that unhealthy or addictive behavior can develop around prediction-market platforms, while 56% said they would know where to seek help. The NCPG/Harris Poll summary and methodology measure public beliefs and help awareness, not clinical prevalence. The finding does not mean that 85% of prediction-market users are addicted.

You can bring your list to a licensed clinician and ask directly about gambling disorder, compulsive trading, financial harm, and any anxiety, depression, substance use, ADHD, or other concerns that may need assessment. You do not need a separate prediction-market diagnosis to ask for help.

7. Add human and professional support #

Choose at least one person or service you can contact before the next urge:

Call or text the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-MY-RESET for confidential, 24/7 U.S. support and local referrals.
Use the Gamblers Anonymous meeting directory to find an in-person or virtual peer meeting.
Ask a licensed mental health professional about their experience assessing gambling disorder and financially focused compulsive behavior.
Tell a trusted person exactly what would help: stay on the phone during self-exclusion, check in around a major event, review an alert with you, or help test a blocker.

The broader Detachr help page lists treatment directories, peer support, financial resources, and crisis contacts. A platform partnership or responsible-trading page is not a substitute for independent care.

If you trade again after trying to stop #

End the session without opening a second position to repair the first one. Cancel remaining unfilled orders, protect essential money, and tell someone what happened. Then identify the exact route that reopened:

Was the restriction limited to one platform?
Did a broker still offer the same event contracts?
Did a wallet or funding route remain available?
Did news, sports, or a group chat lead back to the market?
Was an account restriction reversible during the urge?

Strengthen that layer and update your gambling relapse prevention plan. A return to trading is information about a gap in the plan, not proof that recovery is impossible.

If gambling creates immediate risk to safety, housing, or basic needs, seek local emergency or social-service help. If you may harm yourself or someone else, call emergency services. In the United States, call or text 988 for crisis support or call 911 for immediate danger.

Common questions about prediction market addiction #

Can prediction markets be addictive?

People can develop a harmful, compulsive pattern around money staked on uncertain events. Prediction-market-specific research is still limited, so there is no reliable prevalence estimate for addiction to Polymarket, Kalshi, or event contracts. Clinicians can assess the established signs of gambling disorder and the harm the behavior is causing.

Is prediction market addiction different from sports betting addiction?

It belongs under the broader gambling-harm framework for recovery, but the cues and access routes can differ. Prediction markets can connect politics, finance, weather, entertainment, and ordinary news to tradable contracts, and they may be available through exchanges, brokers, APIs, or crypto wallets. That warrants a specific access and trigger plan.

How do I self-exclude from Kalshi?

Use Kalshi's official Voluntary Self-Exclusion instructions and review open positions before the restriction begins. Kalshi says direct exclusion covers its site, app, and API, but not access through a futures commission merchant. Check every broker or secondary route separately.

Can I self-exclude from Polymarket?

We could not verify a public, active Polymarket-wide self-exclusion promise as of August 4, 2026. Polymarket does publish account-deletion instructions that require closing positions and withdrawing funds first. Deletion is not a fixed self-exclusion, so add independent barriers around the wallet, apps, domains, and funding access. SelfExclude.io currently lists its Polymarket integration as in progress, not complete.

Does Robinhood's "Hide sports prediction markets" setting block trading?

No. Robinhood's official instructions say the visibility setting does not prevent sports event-contract trading. Full event-contract self-exclusion requires contacting Robinhood Support and resolving open event-contract positions according to its process.

Will sportsbook self-exclusion block prediction markets?

Do not assume it will. Coverage depends on the program, operator, broker, product, and jurisdiction. Verify every platform in writing and add device, account, money, and support barriers where coverage stops.

Should I delete my wallet to stop using Polymarket?

Do not destroy credentials or send assets without understanding the consequences. Cancel orders, review positions and records, use official support, remove interface and funding shortcuts, and ask a qualified professional when tax, custody, or security questions are involved. Never share a seed phrase or private key.

References and support #

These sources were checked on August 4, 2026. Platform features and eligibility can change. Detachr content is written by the Detachr Editorial Team and is not clinically reviewed; see our editorial standards.

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