Gambling involves risking something of value (usually money) on an event with an element of chance in the hope of winning something in return. Popular forms of gambling include lottery tickets, casino games like blackjack and roulette, slot machines, video poker, instant scratch-off tickets, sports events, animal races, dice, and keno.
Gambling is often used for entertainment, but it can also be used as a form of financial gain or relief from stress or other problems. Addiction to gambling can have serious repercussions for both those addicted and their loved ones – including significant physical health impacts as well as losses at work that lead to decreased income or even unemployment.
Problem gamblers often cannot find another means of relieving uncomfortable feelings, like loneliness or boredom, which leads to unhealthy or dangerous behaviors like drug use, sexual addiction and eating disorders – often culminating in schizophrenia or bipolar disorder diagnosis.
Studies on the social impacts of gambling have been undertaken. Some are based on economic cost-benefit analyses while others employ health-related quality of life weights (also referred to as disability weights) to uncover intangible costs not usually included in official economic assessments. Studies have been carried out at all three levels of society: individual, interpersonal and community.
Gambling may offer many positives, yet its disadvantages far outweigh them. Most obvious is its financial ramifications on gamblers themselves and those close to them such as family and coworkers; this burden can take the form of increased debts, lost wages or increased risks such as homelessness or bankruptcy.
Gambling’s negative impact has also been seen through an increase in criminal activity, which has been tied to higher domestic violence and homicide rates as well as increases in delinquency, juvenile crime, and suicide rates.
There are various things you can do to break your gambling habit, including strengthening your support network by spending more time with non-gamblers, taking up new hobbies or joining community service organizations; or enrolling in recovery programs like Gamblers Anonymous with peer support and 12-step programs such as 12 step recovery plans like Gamblers Anonymous. Finally, counseling may also help; you could contact either your doctor or local therapist; cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), spiritual approaches may also prove helpful in relieving gambling cravings.