Topic: Facts about gambling addiction (Read 233 times)

It can be really sobering and a real eye opener to anybody who is drawn to gambling to see hard facts laid out like this. You simply have to remember one thing - Vegas was not paid for by winners and that applies to all gambling institutions that are rolling in profits. I don't think the odd gamble is a dangerous thing, many people play the lottery even though that has probably the worst odds of any game, but it's on a small and controlled scale. I would question the last point that you made however, while intelligent people are susceptible to the damaging effects of problem gambling - very few people would judge such a person to be strong or wise.

Hmm. Is there anything that involves money that won't be addicted to people? Money is the main fact why I think people are addicted to gamble, more especially with men. Gambling is also like a side hustle that's why people are into it.

The point is to return to each other, regarding addiction or not, it is very difficult for us to avoid. Moreover, regarding our liking for gambling, it is clear that even though it is considered an addiction, because according to us it is a desire based on self-determination, so as long as it does not harm others, keep on gambling and have no effect or influence on those who have not gambled.

There are also the group that gets addicted to the adrenaline rush you get when you take big risks and it pays off. You can quickly spot them... they make the huge base bets and then go crazy when it hits. (Some of them also Stream with their own money... because it pays for their addiction) 

A lot of people started very small ..... then they get a BIG win and they get a huge adrenaline rush from that.... they will then chase that rush for the rest of their lives. (Many go bankrupt in the process) ... it's all in the brain.

Not really, the conclusion is that you need to know yourself, there are people that by nature have a predisposition to have compulsive behaviors that could become addictions, and we must remember that people can become addicted to anything, so what you need to do is be honest with yourself about your personality and your tendencies, if you do not have that problem then most likely you can gamble without any problem, but if you do then it could make sense to stay away from gambling in order to avoid developing a dependency on the hobby.

I hardly saw this article in your post. LOL

Many of us have known the facts of gambling addiction before because we are also gamblers. The degree of addiction that causes more problems for gamblers is highly dependent on the gambling regulation of a country because if gambling is legal then obviously there are many other problem that cause gamblers to experience many problems such as addiction to alcohol, drugs and others. For anxiety disorders I think this is a common thing for most gamblers as a result of losing, but the case is different for every gambler.

OP's post doesn't really talk about the cause of the gambling addiction, rather it focuses on some statistics. Real cause of gambling addiction is greed. That's the only psychological quotient that leads to gambling addiction. Nothing else does!

Till the time someone can control their greed, will gamble for entertainment. The moment greed starts controlling your mind, that's when addiction happens and money started flowing out from their pocket to the casino houses account.

I can I agree with your point 6 about mood change and anxiety I can relate this to myself specially I do have anxiety problem in gambling. Some times I get very tensed and behave differently and with point 5 I can also relate a bit as alcohol becomes a bit of problem when I lose bet I really want some alcohol to calm my self down.

It's inherent in us, we love to take risks and get rewarded for taking risks, we are challenged by the rolls and bets that we've seen on those games, this is why gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry it evoked something that is inherent in us, risk excitement and getting rewarded. Gambling brings the best and worse on us, we need to have a strong character to be a survivor in this game of chance.

Maybe in retrospect after reading about the 'facts' of people getting involved and addicted to gambling points 3,4,7,9 make sense to me, regardless of the percentage of Americans who are addicted.

As far as i know there is another fact, most people are involved in gambling/addiction, if i am not mistaken it is people get addicted on the basis of motivated behavior and their habitual thing is because people can't leave gambling, this method has been proven in my country through an investigation into a gambling addict, he has been arrested 10 times, the motive for the case is illegal gambling.

And what the OP said in this thread, there is also truth in the fact of addiction, it can be said that there are many factors that a person can be addicted to gambling.

We all get addicted if we are not disciplined in gambling, and being unrealistic is one of the main reasons because we thought making money is easy which in reality not the case.

I don't disagree with that, gambling is not bad, it gives entertainment and a chance to earn money, however, some people are just too undisciplined that they don't know how to control themselves, hence resulting in heavy losses that they will regret after.

I agree with this because gambling is not the problem here. It is like people who are the problem and not gambling itself because they can't control themselves. They can't control themselves whether they are winning or losing thus, they are having problems with themselves.

No surprise with this especially in US where 80% are gamblers. There is Las Vegas out there where gambling is mostly done out there. The fact too that gambling is easy to access is the reason why people are gambling and of course money too is another reason .

Well, after reading the first ones as kinda negative we saw a positive one with regards to gambling like this .
At least we saw that there is still positivity behind gambling and this is it. There are gamblers that are very successful for some reasons but the number of successful ones to failed ones are far. There are way more losers as compare to winners. After all whether it is gambling addiction or any kind of addiction, it is all harmful. Just learn how to control yourself so that you don't experience what the most are experiencing when they are gambling.

People do things all for the sake of getting money,most times men fall into this.
It's better not to start gambling at all,those well disciplined will gamble and know the do's and donts...some are just too adamant to carry out a plan and strategy successfully.

I've read an article before that one of the reasons why a lot of addicted gamblers have either alcohol addiction, drug addiction, etc.. is that they use it to cope when they lose. basically, the article I've read before says that gambling addicts have a higher risk of getting addicted to alcohol and drugs. I am currently looking for that specific article but I can't find it. although I have found another article similarly saying that addicted gamblers have a higher risk of getting a secondary addiction.

here's the link
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/15929#addiction

Most gamblers who are experiencing depression due to gambling addiction mostly rely on vices like drugs and cigarettes. They have these vices to ease the depression and disappointments that they're experiencing. They mostly vice as their comfort zone which could cause them lots of negative effects. We can't blame them after all since gambling depression is a huge problem.

This is the real reason why gambling sites warn their customers to be responsible gamblers regardless of whether they will practice it or ignore it. Being a responsible gambler in the end will only give us good control in carrying out gambling activities where this also often gets gamblers in trouble.

Interesting facts in the OP will vary greatly among gamblers especially when they do not make gambling as a source of income. The facts above will only be clearly felt by gamblers who make gambling as a source of income so that such problem will be very difficult to avoid. So basically being a responsible gambler will be able to help anyone interested in gambling minimize problem such as addiction, financial, and other health problem.

Gambling may have a unnecessary definition attached to it because of many incidents of people fall into a bad habits of gambling addiction but for other people gambling is their way to make a fun and enjoy and there's nothing wrong about it as long as the person knows his limitation. I believe that every body were aware of the risk that they going to take whenever they going to try to enter the world of gambling but it's undeniable that many of the gambler's were in gambling activities for the hope of earning reward aside from the fact that they are enjoying the game.

that's understanding is actually very true ,some of the disorders caused by the problem refer to the brain ! depression stress and several other disorders triggered by that's three ! addicted to all that should be rehabilitated by starting activities in an open area

I think they are just trying to be more in general, no race or financial status was mentioned because I think that it doesn't matter when it comes to gambling addiction since it was stated that your emotion is the one who is responsible for the rest of your addiction, no matter how much you lose in gambling, no matter what race or how rich you are, in my opinion.

But it's true that it is common in casinos to see gambler who smoke and drink while they are playing. For sure some VIP(s) are doing drugs as well since they could ask for protection from the casino using their wealth.

Most likely it's because women are risk averse as compared to men.

And the last time I went into a casino, it is pretty much dominated my men and I would say that majority are really trying their luck to take home some big money.

But it is not that easy as there is the house edge and sooner or later it will catch up on us.

For sports bookies, I think sports are being followed mostly by men as well so it's obvious, that they are more prone to become addicted.

Lets just admit that Gambling industry starts very long time ago and will continue to dominate  all kind of business in the world.
this has been part of more than half of worlds population so meaning addiction will always there if we are engaging in gambling.
no matter what the stats mentioned in the OP , the reality will always speaks and that is Gambling is really something that people must keep distance if they wanted to have a better and peaceful life.

People have a mind that gambling is the fastest way to get rich and they see many samples that people can make money from gambling. That is why they try to engage in gambling but not for big money for the first time. Soon after they see how much potential money they can make from gambling, they increase their bet to expect to win big money.

They feel that using big money in some period can help them produce money from gambling, but that is not always right because we see many people lose their money in gambling. In this matter, they are lack control of themselves and only want to win big money.

Could be good if there's some data regarding this, I'm interested to know more about this facts especially those who got into gambling addiction yet manage to get successful in life, that's more kind of facts that are totally motivating.

This is a wrong way to describe addiction. Lots of people still have fun even though they are addicted. Can you tell me it is not fun to have sex even though you are addicted to have sex? Nobody can. What you are saying is something else. If it is starting to damage yourself, then you are overdoing it. It is as simple as that.

You can be an alcohol addict but never harm your body for years. If you are drinking a bottle of bear every day, would you call this "addiction" ? I would. Why not? If you can't end the day without having a can of beer, then it means you are addicted to that. But what can a bottle of beer do to your body even though you do it every day? Not much.

All of these facts can lead us to conclude that gambling is a risky recreation but that does not mean that gambling is totally bad it's just how we approach gambling and make it a serious part of our lives that it becomes risky, we must minimize our time gamble and allocate funds and do not exceed it, and have the right motivation to gamble, it should always be to have fun and nothing more, once you think of making money out of gambling, you are putting yourself at risk.

It's addiction if you find it not enjoyable anymore. Stress emotions come in looking for money just to continue the habit and then it could lead to doing bad things just so they could grab that money to satisfy themselves.
But, I don't like the other point here which puts all the blame on the people. There are also those businesses that obviously put the easy access to gamble in areas where there are a lot of people and 80 percent of them are poor. It's like it was done for the purpose of attacking the poorest and trying their luck to double their money instead for food. If it's not there in the first place, it could've been different.

quite interesting facts when viewed as a whole from the thread you convey.
but even then I don't know how to stop because I already consider gambling as a part of me.
it's true that gambling actually won't solve anything even the economy tends to decline because of it but i'm still going on this path because i'm more comfortable on that path

It's interesting that the article didn't mention things like the financial situation of gamblers and even race. When I am in Germany either for holiday or work and I meet up with a few friends, we sometimes visit a few sportsbooks because one of my friends gambles on sports on a daily basis. I often look at the people inside and I notice that almost all of them are foreigners. Germans are nowhere to be found in German sportsbooks. The majority of the gamblers are Africans, ex-Yugoslavia, Turks, and Italians (if we go to one specific shop located in a part of the town where the majority of the population is from Italy). Alcohol, cigarettes, and even marihuana can often be smelled in close vicinity to the shops.   

Based from the data and information gathered, we can safely conclude that gambling is another form of addiction which can be associated with other types of addiction as well. Unfortunately, people who gamble are also the ones who are heavily dependent on alcohol and nicotine usage which further affects their livelihood in terms of allocating their expenses to their daily needs.

Gambling is another platform which enables other addiction to rise as well. With the number of people who gamble everyday, it further attracts almost everyone to at least try or attempt them into winning huge amounts of sum in a big amount of risk as well.

I'd reckon if you include life-making decisions (and the minor stuff you wouldn't really consider "gambling"), we all had done so, at least once in our lives. Even the simplest of decisions could be described as a gamble, just that the amount or price that you pay as well as the intensity of losing said price is lower or negligible compared to gambling (though really, I think gambling is the LOWEST of the prices there since it's money).

Well, gambling together with those vices has been related to each other since long ago. Gambling is a stress relief kind of thing most of the time, after all, so adding vices increases that feeling of "relief".

Interesting to see this fact:

"5. A research study found that 75% of gamblers had an alcohol disorder, 38% had a drug use disorder, and 60% were nicotine dependent."

And that's what I saw on traditional based casinos, they drink and they smoke and then they gamble and lose because their decision making is very clouded by the substance that they are taking.

But there are some who doesn't have any addiction to any of the vices mentioned and yet they still become gambling addicts. Truly, gambling is really one of a kind, as we can't really control ourselves once we become addicted to it.

This are good facts and I really don't know most of them. One thing is for sure that gambling can really be risky to persons mental health and many people are suffering from gambling addiction while others take profit from the players I think it is really important that you are mentally prepared when playing gambling I think they should have a promo for players that spends a lot of money from gambling and have a monthly mental checkups for free.

Gambling is just normal,  it's a form of game that people found interesting the way we also see other games interesting.  People get addicted to game because of how they see the game interesting so as well with Gambling. Another reason why people are addicted to it is because of the morning involve in it. People see it as the easiest way to get money.

Gambling is a one way ticket where the money goes from the players to the casinos. The sooner you understand that, the better you can protect yourself. By "protecting" I don't mean that you shouldn't gamble at all. You can gamble every once in a while but do it responsibly. If you lose your control and get greedy, then your problems will start  and you'll experience the shitty stuff which the OP pointed out.

Correct.

I was surprised when I found out on this article that the reason behind gambling addiction is "emotion" not because by peer pressure or wanted to earn profits to aid financial problem etc, just emotion. So I would just add that every person could be a target by their emotional needs to ease their boredom or to have some entertainment. It's really scary to found out the harm that can cause to people by gambling addiction.

It's no joke.

It's a fact that if gamblers don't control themselves, they are very likely to become addicts and experience what is mentioned in numbers 5 and 6, but of course there are also gamblers who continue to gamble regularly but don't become addicted, because it's about self control and have other activities that also consume a lot of time so we don't have much time can spend in gambling.

the conclusion from the data above is that it is better to never touch gambling because anyone will find it difficult to get away from gambling even though they have emotional or intellectual intelligence.  if i could go back in time then it would be better if i never played gambling because honestly it's really hard to resist the attraction of gambling because i'm used to it 

These are some interesting facts that you might don't know until now. I've stumbled upon this ARTICLE since I'm always curious what's the real reason why people are getting addicted to gambling, and here is why:

1.Gambling is a BILLION dollar industry. In America, gambling has become a $40 billion dollar a year industry. Las Vegas alone brings in close to 10 billion dollars a year from people gambling at their casinos and placing bets.

2. It is common for people to blame certain types of gambling methods, such as lotteries, casinos, and racetracks for causing compulsive gambling, but gambling problems are not caused from gambling being easily attainable, they are caused from a person’s inability to control their gambling habits. There are far more people who gamble on occasion than there are people who are compulsive gamblers.

3. It has been estimated that around 80 percent of the US population has gambled in their lifetime. Gambling can be done in various different ways and therefore is easy for people to access.
4. Pathological gamblers are significantly more likely to have mental health disorders and/or substance use disorders.

5. A research study found that 75% of gamblers had an alcohol disorder, 38% had a drug use disorder, and 60% were nicotine dependent.

6. 50% of gamblers have experienced a mood disorder, 41.3% had experienced an anxiety disorder, and 60.8% had experienced a personality disorder.

7. Men are more likely to develop a gambling problem than women.

8. It is estimated that three to four percent of the American population has a gambling problem; this is approximately between six to eight million people.

9. The last gambling addiction fact to remember is that compulsive gambling does not mean that you are a weak person. Many people who have become problem gamblers are very successful and are seen by others as strong and intelligent people.