The Effects of Gambling
Gambling is the placing of something of value (typically money) at risk on an event whose outcome is dependent on chance with the aim of winning a prize. It includes activities such as lottery tickets, fruit machines, casinos, card games, scratch cards, horse races and sporting events. The amount wagered can be small or large and the odds of winning are typically against a person. There are many different forms of gambling but the majority of them share a few common characteristics. These include: a desire for fun and excitement, socializing, skill development and money-winning. Gambling also involves a high degree of risk and can have serious negative personal, family and financial consequences.
Although gambling can be enjoyable and rewarding, some people become too heavily involved in this activity to the point that it has a disproportionately negative effect on their lives. This group of individuals is known as problem gamblers. Problem gambling can harm relationships, impact work or study performance and lead to debt and even homelessness. In addition, it can have a detrimental effect on mental health, including depression and anxiety.
Despite its ubiquity, gambling is often seen as a vice and is a dangerous pastime that can result in major problems and losses. A number of people develop gambling disorders, which can range from subclinical behavior that puts the individual at risk for developing more serious problems to behaviors that meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for pathological gambling. Symptoms may include preoccupation with gambling; lying to family members or therapists about the extent of involvement in gambling; and chasing one’s losses by attempting to make up for lost funds (American Psychiatric Association 2000).
The prevalence of gambling in our society is influenced by a variety of factors. It can start at a young age, with children as young as seven struggling to control time spent on video and mobile phone games, which frequently ask for micro-transactions or payments. Older people who feel isolated or bored can also be vulnerable to gambling.
Behavioral researchers have conducted controlled examinations of the effects of gambling, with the results showing that it can be both enjoyable and harmful. However, the lack of a consistent nomenclature for this phenomenon and the difficulty in designing effective experimental methods has prevented these studies from being widely replicated or generalized to other populations. Moreover, the nature of the risk of gambling makes it difficult to evaluate in long-term care settings, where residents have limited ability to make independent decisions about their leisure activities. The preference for and reaction to gambling in this population needs to be carefully assessed before it is reintroduced to these facilities.