Gambling is a social activity that involves risking money or something of value in the hope of winning money or a prize. It can be anything from placing a bet on the result of a football match to playing scratchcards. It’s a chance game, with ‘odds’ – for example 5/1 or 2/1 – being set by the betting company to determine how much money you can win.
The gambling industry is a major global industry with an estimated economic value of around $10 trillion (illegal gambling may exceed this figure). It provides jobs and tax revenues to governments.
It can be addictive and cause problems with relationships, finances, and your health. It can also be a sign of an underlying mood disorder such as depression, stress, or substance abuse.
People who gamble are more likely to develop a problem than those who do not. This is because they are more likely to be influenced by family members or friends who have a gambling problem. It can be hard to recognise if you or someone you know has a problem, but there are ways you can start to work through the issues and get help.
Self-help sections on this site build on each other to provide a series of steps that will enable you to cut down or stop your gambling altogether. There are also sections on family therapy and marriage, career, and credit counseling to help you address the specific issues that your gambling has caused.
A person with gambling problems can have periods where their symptoms are not as severe, but they will continue to have problems regardless of whether the gambling causes them any harm. They will have trouble controlling their spending, and they may be preoccupied with planning and organising their next gambling session.
There are also financial and social costs associated with gambling, including a loss of productivity and lost income for those involved in the industry. These effects, however, are difficult to quantify.
Benefit-cost analysis is a method for estimating the net economic impact of an action or policy, determining whether the benefits outweigh the costs. This is a challenging task, since it requires the evaluation of the benefits and costs for all individuals, not just those affected by pathological gambling.
It can be especially difficult to determine the net effect of increased access to casino gambling, as the number of participants increases and their behavioural patterns are not well-understood. Grinols and Omorov (1995) attempted to estimate the externality costs of improving gambling accessibility, defining these as criminal justice system costs, social service costs, and lost productivity due to pathological gambling.
They concluded that increasing access to casino gambling was not a cost-effective way of reducing the harm caused by pathological gambling, and suggested a need for more research into the issue.
A person who has a problem with gambling can be very self-conscious about it, so it can be difficult to know how to cope with it. They might have a fear of losing money, or feel guilty about the harm they are doing to themselves or others. It can also make them want to avoid being in social situations where they might find themselves in a position to gamble. They might feel unable to control their impulses, or they may be afraid of losing their job or a relationship if they stop gambling.
