Addiction, Problem Gambling and Risky Behaviours

"The prevalence of problem gambling was higher than anticipated and gambling in general is incontrovertibly commonplace among Scotland’s youths.” (Prevalence and Correlates of Youth Gambling in Scotland, 2006)

It is the view of the Royal College of Psychiatrists that the most important factors determining the incidence of excessive gambling leading to addiction are the availability of gambling facilities and the social pressures encouraging participation. It is self-evidently the case that both of these factors have increased in impact in recent years.

The Foresight project on Brain Science, Addiction and Drugs examined so-called “behavioral addiction” and identified gambling as being at the forefront of these. In common with chemical addictions, it seems to involve learning and rewards and individual susceptibility may vary. The Foresight project noted that in gambling, an important stimulus is the illusion of control that the player receives and the belief that he or she is exercising skill. Many forms of gambling are designed to give the impression that the player nearly won a major prize. Technological innovation means that it is now much simpler to provide such rewards, (a particular risk with online gambling).

The British Prevalence Study of 2000 suggested that there were between 275,000 and 370,000 problem gamblers in the UK, (0.6–0.8% of the population, depending on the diagnostic method used). Again, it must be remembered that this study is seven years out of date, seven years which have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the promotion and advertising of gambling. Problem Gamblers are people who find that their gambling causes them to run into debt, have difficulties holding down jobs, puts their homes or relationships at risk, causes health breakdown and can even push some towards suicide. Gambling is distinctive in that it allows people to get into financial difficulties very quickly. Attempts to remedy the situation by gambling to win back one’s losses (“chasing losses”) make the situation worse.

Games which allow for rapid re-staking, have “near-misses”, a combination of high top prizes and frequent winning of small prizes and where there is a suspension of judgment over the amount of money staked, are all likely to be more addictive than “soft gambling” such as the National Lottery weekly draw.

Credits
The photograph of the hand with cards was taken by Melissa Grey.


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