The Impacts of Gambling
Gambling is the act of risking something of value, usually money, on an activity based on chance in the hope of realizing a profit. It is one of the world’s oldest pastimes and has been a part of many cultures throughout history. While some people gamble responsibly, others become addicted and experience serious harms to their physical, psychological and social health. Gambling can also cause problems for the wider society as it leads to financial stress, relationship breakdown, family violence, mental illness and suicide. Harm caused by gambling can persist for a person’s whole life and be transmitted across generations. It is therefore critical to reduce gambling-related harm and promote responsible gambling practices. This can be achieved through prohibition, limiting advertising and promotion, centralized account registration to require those who gamble to set binding loss limits, restrictions on access (opening hours, density) and tight regulation.
People gamble for a variety of reasons including the excitement of winning, the desire to try new things, socialising with friends or to escape from worries and stress. However, some people can get out of control and begin to have difficulty recognizing when they are gambling too much. Problematic gambling can be a serious problem and there are ways to seek help and overcome it. If you think you have a problem with gambling, there are a number of things you can do to help yourself, including getting treatment, joining a support group and trying self-help tips.
The main health issues caused by gambling include poor finances, substance abuse, poor mental health and addiction. Some people are unable to control their gambling behaviour, which can lead to them borrowing money or selling assets and even taking on debt to fund their gambling habit. This can put them at risk of losing their home or becoming homeless and it can have a detrimental impact on relationships, work and children’s schooling.
Gambling can also have a negative economic impact on communities by reducing consumer spending, increasing household debt and decreasing local investment. It can also lead to reduced income for the government through taxation, which could potentially undermine progress toward achieving sustainable development goals. To address these issues, international cooperation is needed to share information about harms and promote effective regulatory responses.
The impacts of gambling can be viewed at the personal, interpersonal and community/society levels (see figure 1). The personal and interpersonal level impact is visible to the gambler themselves and includes invisible costs that may not be recognized, such as family distress and increased debt. The community/society level impacts are monetary and include general costs, costs related to problem gambling and long-term costs.
Gambling is the act of risking something of value, usually money, on an activity based on chance in the hope of realizing a profit. It is one of the world’s oldest pastimes and has been a part of many cultures throughout history. While some people gamble responsibly, others become addicted and experience serious harms to their physical, psychological and social health. Gambling can also cause problems for the wider society as it leads to financial stress, relationship breakdown, family violence, mental illness and suicide. Harm caused by gambling can persist for a person’s whole life and be transmitted across generations. It is therefore critical to reduce gambling-related harm and promote responsible gambling practices. This can be achieved through prohibition, limiting advertising and promotion, centralized account registration to require those who gamble to set binding loss limits, restrictions on access (opening hours, density) and tight regulation. People gamble for a variety of reasons including the excitement of winning, the desire to try new things, socialising with friends or to escape from worries and stress. However, some people can get out of control and begin to have difficulty recognizing when they are gambling too much. Problematic gambling can be a serious problem and there are ways to seek help and overcome it. If you think you have a problem with gambling, there are a number of things you can do to help yourself, including getting treatment, joining a support group and trying self-help tips. The main health issues caused by gambling include poor finances, substance abuse, poor mental health and addiction. Some people are unable to control their gambling behaviour, which can lead to them borrowing money or selling assets and even taking on debt to fund their gambling habit. This can put them at risk of losing their home or becoming homeless and it can have a detrimental impact on relationships, work and children’s schooling. Gambling can also have a negative economic impact on communities by reducing consumer spending, increasing household debt and decreasing local investment. It can also lead to reduced income for the government through taxation, which could potentially undermine progress toward achieving sustainable development goals. To address these issues, international cooperation is needed to share information about harms and promote effective regulatory responses. The impacts of gambling can be viewed at the personal, interpersonal and community/society levels (see figure 1). The personal and interpersonal level impact is visible to the gambler themselves and includes invisible costs that may not be recognized, such as family distress and increased debt. The community/society level impacts are monetary and include general costs, costs related to problem gambling and long-term costs.