Negative Impact of Gambling Addiction
Gambling is basically the wagering something of worth on an occasion with an uncertain future with the objective of winning something of equivalent value. Gambling thus needs three factors to exist: risk, consideration, and a reward. To put it differently, to gamble you need to understand your risk and decide whether it would be acceptable to take that risk. The second factor, consideration, involves weighing the costs of gambling against the rewards of winning, while the last factor, a reward, refers to the satisfaction you get from your gambling experience.
A major factor in leading to gambling addiction is stress. Stress can come from any situation or thought that can lead you to a state of excitement and to a state where your mind starts thinking about the possibility of getting some return on the investment you made. While some people get their thrill from adrenaline rush, some people get hooked on the excitement that comes with meeting new people, winning lottery prizes, or becoming part of a team. While these are all fun and may satisfy some needs in our life, these needs usually leads to a state of higher risk aversion and one may begin to look out for a reward which could add up to the total amount of money lost.
One of the biggest factors that lead to addictive behavior in gambling is the presence of social groups like internet forums, online gaming communities, social networks like MySpace, Facebook, etc. These online communities enable people to share and discuss almost anything under the sun. Thus, when you log into one of these forums, your focus is diverted from yourself and placed on trying to win bets and gaming activities, which may lead to an addiction to gambling. It is important that one remain away from these forums as they could easily lead to further involvement in betting activities.
People often associate addictions with work, money and sports. However, the addiction to gambling is actually a much bigger problem and one that can even lead to a higher risk of financial and legal problems. Gambling addiction not only affects the person who indulges in gambling but also those around him/her. Those who are close to the gambler may start losing confidence in the gambler as he/she spends more money and pays out more winnings. The situation gets worse when one considers that the gambler may be cheating on them and may be taking huge chunks of their earnings for personal use.
Most of the gambling addictions begin when a person is young. The problem usually starts when that person stops his/her educational pursuits and begins to rely on cash flow from outside sources and thus starts a dependency. Once a dependence has been set in, it is difficult if not impossible to reverse it. However, with proper therapy and counseling, recovery is possible especially if the addiction to gambling was started at a young age.
In most cases, the negative impact of gambling addictions is not felt until later in life when the person is working and paying bills. The person may have gone on to live a successful and enjoyable life before gambling became an integral part of that lifestyle and thus managed to get away from it all and develop into a healthy, happy and productive adult. However, many have managed to spiral out of control and ruin their lives, not only because they gamble but because they let gambling take control of them.