Bad Things About Gambling
Gaming when illegal is called gambling. This is the most crude and layman definition of the vice which involves wagering of money or something of material value. When talking about history, ancient tales of Gambler’s lament and Mahabharata testifies to the popularity of gambling among kings and princes. Hence the dating cannot be done. But this is known for sure that religious authorities generally disapproved of gambling. Arthashahstra recommended taxation and control of gambling, ancient Jewish authorities disqualified professional gamblers from appearing in the courts, some Islamic nations prohibit it. It has been seen that gambling has social consequences and is at the receiving end of flak from most of the nations. Then why do we find an increased rate of addiction to this social evil. What is in it that is so appealing to the masses. The answer is the monetary gains. When we are acquainted with such ways of earning quick money we seldom turn our backs. But one must not forget the popular law, “action and reaction exist in pairs”. The reactions are hereby given.
10. At a loss
Science has shown that gambling addiction is real and it causes severe changes to brain function and chemistry. People who cannot stop gambling truly cannot – and they need to seek help for their gambling addiction. And perhaps because of these many concerns. Gambling Improves Your Health. Nobody thinks that playing a blackjack hand or rolling craps dice.
An unsuccessful gambler is often at a loss of money and sleep. He is restless and this urges him to resort to more gambling to recuperate the losses. What about a successful gambler then? Can we say it in Toto about his success rates? Everyone among us is not an MIT graduate who knows his game with numbers and algorithms. Be it a person in need for money or elite people of the society, no one welcomes loss. The stress related to these losses can hamper one’s health and ultimately one’s life. In Michael Jordan’s own words, I want people to understand, gambling is not a bad thing if you do it within the framework of what’s meant to be, which is fun and entertaining.
9. Exposure
Don’t the children learn pretty quickly? But don’t expect them to learn the good always. Researchers argue that now a day’s children below 18 gamble increasingly. Gambling exists in much forms-racing, bingo, card games, dice games, lottery, slots and horse betting. Increased accessibility to internet has coined a new form of gambling-internet gambling. Among other drawbacks of internet this too has its repercussions. Since youth are inquisitive and often at a need for answers, they are more likely to develop problems related to gambling than adults.
8. Isolation
“I can’t face this mess alone, but am I not a loser who will not be helped?” Have you often heard such words from gamblers? Are they considered lonely or the society is too harsh on them? Does your spouse blame you for the financial bankruptcy, threatening to leave you? If you have an answer to these questions and going through a similar mental state, then it is high time to realize the emotional problem related to gambling. Family members may avoid a gambler for he embarrasses them. Your partner might develop strong feelings against you. This makes it hard for people to get love and support. They feel isolated and suffer like a loner.
7. Impact on children
What is it that you smoke? Is not it bad for your health? My teacher says so. Please stop gambling. If you aren’t all ears to these queries, you will soon lose on your children. Children often feel forgotten, depressed and angry when they see their parents or one of them has a gambling problem. This rushes them into taking sides between their parents. This is a serious problem as it concerns the fragile mental behavior of the children. There have been cases when they stop trusting their parents seeing their addiction. It is true they follow the elders but when their ideals go berserk, it comes as a setback. They may lose their trust and start misbehaving, feeling down in the dumps.
6. Fights and abuses
Bad Things About Gambling Money
When nations are in crisis, they wage wars; families create violence. Gambling instills remorse among the people when they lose the game. Many feel all the more stressed, anxious and depressed. Above all of it, if his family starts to think of him as a gangrenous limb to be removed, would not he be angered and aggressive. Gambling problems lead to physical and emotional abuse of a partner or child. Researches show that 25-50% of spouses of compulsive gamblers have been abused. Among them some have been physically and verbally abused and some have even attempted to suicide as a result of it. A medical school in Nebraska found that gambling is as much a risk for violence as alcohol abuse. One can always look up for the research reports online.
What Are The Negative Effects Of Gambling
5. Suicide risk
The most likely people who commit suicide are the ones prone to heavy alcohol, drugs or similar addiction. On the other hand some who have threatened suicide or hurt themselves in the past are also at risk. It would be obvious to state the reasons for depression and such terminal steps. Loss of money, alienation from family and spouse, child abuse, damage to self-dignity- who wouldn’t be crestfallen.
4. Impediment to career
A student will skip classes; forget to study his lessons just because he is somewhere busy stacking cards or bidding online. An employee will show up less at his office and his performance will drop. Of course one is not anti-gambling. You may even question, if someone is alcoholic, alcohol should be banned then. The point here is not to make this problem everyone else’s but to make them aware of the implications this vice can have on your career; for it will be harder to come back to the real world now, because time has already passed by.
3. Fraud and double standards
Legalized gambling is the fastest growing industry in the world and can have drastic influence on state government, one is being corruption. Till date there have been numerous news reports of corruption and fraud in state lotteries. Evidence shows that the poor and the disadvantaged are its easy targets. Let us not get into the political sphere of this huge gambling business because people love to earn quick and spend lavish. At times like this, it is either self-motivation or family interference which can pull us out of this deep pitch. No doubt legalized gambling is a bad social policy but it is better to stay mum on such sensitive issues.
2. Bleeding account
Know an interesting fact? The average compulsive gambler has debts exceeding $80,000. If unlucky, they end up hassling with loan sharks who would go after their lives if they don’t pay. Feel the crunch the person might be undergoing, marital disharmony, divorce, substance abuse. If we try to find a link between the increased crime rate and gambling, chances are we will get success. Embezzlement, theft and involvement in organized crime are some hideaway means for potential gamblers. Your bank account will run dry if you don’t monitor your recreational options.
1. Problem gambling
When gambling becomes problematic and there is a plausibility of difficulties, it becomes problem gambling. Ludo mania as is commonly referred is a mental state of excessive gambling without an urge to stop. So grave is this problem, that it is diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling. It might be difficult to accept but people dealing with this addiction can suffer from depression, migraine, distress, intestinal disorders and other anxiety related problems. Now that is something to mull over as gambling is becoming more prevalent throughout the world. A problem gambler gambles as frequently as he will take a tranquilizer, a drug, or have a cup of coffee. It becomes an addiction; the person will wish to experience the emotional affect same as before. It can disrupt your physiological, personal and professional life to a grave extent. The solution may not lie in banning and imposing strict laws on legalized gambling but since it is causing negative impacts on one’s individual life, it needs to be curbed.
Bad Things About Gambling Addiction
The wagering of money, known as gambling has been around for thousands of years and is common all over the world. Each year two thirds of the adult population will make a bet. Also thirty billion dollars are made in casinos and another seventeen billion comes from state lotteries. Gambling is a good thing for today’s society for several reasons.
First, gambling improves the economy. Only two decades ago two states had legal gambling; now forty-eight states have some form of legal gambling so it is obviously bringing in money for these states or it would not have been legalized that quickly. In 2006 over five billion dollars was made from state and local taxes. This means that the taxes from gambling contributed a lot to the economy. In areas where a casino has been put in there has been an improvement in the local schools due to the increase in funds caused by gambling taxes. Also roadways and other programs have benefitted from gambling in their area.
Next, having casinos in an area produces tons of jobs. In the United States alone over 350,000 jobs have been created by casinos. This helps families as well as the government because they don’t have to take care of those people who work at casinos. There are over 1,500 casinos across America giving the opportunity to many people for employment. This will also help a city by increasing the population and therefore improving the economy.
People may say that gambling is a bad thing, because some people get addicted to gambling and lose their money, but it is better to be addicted to a game than something like drugs or alcohol. In the United States there are 15 million Americans addicted to gambling and 23 million addicted to drugs or alcohol so the problem of people being addicted to gambling is not as bad as it may look. Also there is a simple cure to gambling and that is to just stop going to casinos in most cases. Drugs have harmful effects and are much harder to break that addiction.
Last, gambling is a way for people to enjoy themselves and is becoming a popular form of tourism. In 1996 twenty-nine million people visited Las Vegas and 38 percent of Americans will go to Las Vegas in their lifetime. People go on vacations to places like Las Vegas or Reno Nevada, which are two major cities for gambling, to go have fun in casinos and gamble for fun. This is also very good for cities like these to make money. In 2006 in the U.S. 450 casinos made about 34 billion dollars. Gambling is a good thing for tourism and lots of people enjoy it.
Gambling is a positive thing because it improves the economy by bringing in lots of tax dollars that can be used to help communities. It is a fun way for people to spend their time if they do it in a responsible manner. Gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931 and has grown tenfold from 1975 until now, which means it is a growing form of income that helps the economy and tons of communities.
Bibliography
Stewart, Gail B. Gambling. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2001. Print.
PBS. PBS. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/gamble/etc/facts.html>.
'Gambling Facts and Statistics.' Overcoming Gambling Website for Gambling Addicitons. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.overcominggambling.com/facts.html>.
'History of Gambling in the United States.' California State Library. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/97/03/Chapt2.html>.