Over half of the UK population take part in gambling activities, which can be enjoyable for some people, but for others it can have serious negative effects on their mental and physical health, relationships, work or study performance and cause debt or even homelessness. There is also a link between gambling and mood disorders like depression, stress and anxiety which can trigger or be made worse by compulsive gambling behaviour. For these reasons it is important to get help and support if you or someone you know has a gambling problem. If you are worried about the impact of gambling on your finances, speak to StepChange for free debt advice.
Gambling involves wagering something of value, usually money, on a random event that has an element of chance. It can include card games, fruit machines, football accumulators and horse racing bets. It can also include activities where people place bets on events within their social circle, such as dice games or bingo.
It can have positive as well as negative impacts, with the most obvious being financial losses, but it can also provide leisure activity, income generation, tax revenue and charitable contributions. These benefits are generally greater for casinos than other forms of gambling, and they have been found to stimulate job creation and economic growth in the areas where they are located.
Negative impacts from gambling are mainly associated with addictions and can result in poor personal, family and work performance, financial problems, family distress, mental illness, increased use of alcohol and drugs and suicide. It can also lead to criminal and civil justice involvement, which has a wider negative impact on society.
The underlying causes of gambling problems can be complex. Some people may have an underactive brain reward system, which can lead to impulsivity and difficulty controlling their emotions. In addition, factors like cultural beliefs or social pressure to gamble can affect how much a person feels they should do it.
While a lot of research has been carried out to understand the risks of gambling, there are still some significant challenges when it comes to measuring the negative and positive impacts. For example, it is difficult to determine which parts of a gambling impact are monetary and non-monetary, while personal and interpersonal impacts can be challenging to calculate.
It is also difficult to determine which levels of impact gambling has, as there are many different aspects of it that can have a direct or indirect effect on the individual and the community. Gambling impacts can be divided into three classes – costs and benefits, which have been observed at the personal, interpersonal and community/society level.
The key to helping someone with a gambling problem is encouraging them to seek help. This can be done by strengthening existing support networks and reaching out to new ones, or by finding a peer support group such as Gamblers Anonymous. The organisation follows a 12-step recovery model, similar to that of Alcoholics Anonymous and has been found to be highly effective in helping those with gambling problems.