Gambling Addiction In Gen. Y
Gambling has become a growing issue concerning the generation y. According to a survey done by Ctcclearing.com1, 80% of teenagers claimed to have gambled in some form. With a percentage that large, is the problem simply that gambling is a right of passage or are teens more susceptible to the temptations that casinos have.
The Addiction
Compulsive gambling is a disease among many people. "The American Psychiatric Association classifies compulsive gambling as an impulse-control disorder." (MayoClinic) Which means compulsive gamblers are people who cannot control the urge gambling. They don't set spending limits and don't realize that they odds of winning are not in their favor and think that the slot machine will pay out any moment. The slot machine is "completely random" on each spin and each spin is separate from spins before it. (Winner Online) The video slots use a random program to tell if the machine should pay of not. There is no way to judge if the machine will pay on the next turn.
One of the desires that cause compulsive gambling, is the fact that people do not want to be losers. "they draw upon sources of money they may have earned, saved, or invested in order to get even. Losing is intolerable. They must get their money back. They begin the chase, that is, they bet more in order to recoup their losses." (Addictive disorders 116) The person gambles more to try to get out of the debt that they are in. They do not admit to defeat and think they cannot lose.
Compulsive gambling has similar effects as other addictions. As the gambler loses control over their gambling problem they tend to lose control over their lives. (Mayo Clinic)
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....com/1998/metro/9811/29/11290089.htm (8 May 2001)
4. Mayo Clinic
http://mayohealth.org/home?id=HQ00033 (19 March 2001)
5. Addictive Disorders Update
London, Human Sciences Press, 1982
6. Edtech.mcc "Gambling Addiction"
http://edtech.mcc.edu/~gknapp/winter99/gambling/gambling.html (4 April 2001)
7. WebMD Health. "For Teen, Gambling Can Be Bad Bet"
http://mywebmd.com/content.article.3606.270 (11 April 2001)
8. Rosecrance John Gambling Without Guilt California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company,
1988
9. Winner Online
http://winneronline.com/strategies/slots.htm (25 April 2001)
10.Eadington, William R. and Cornelius, Judy A.
Gambling Behavior and Problem Gambling Nevada
University of Nevada, 1993
11. Eadington, William R. and Cornelius, Judy A.
Gambling and Commercial Gaming Nevada
University of Nevada, 1993
Gambling... Who does not like to gamble? People play lotteries, bet on sport games or try their luck on slot machines with a thought to win some amount of money. In fact, this excitement for gambling can be seen even from early ages; for example, ancient Egyptians used to play dice in 2000 BC or the first casinos opened their doors to customers during the Greeco-Roman period ( Whittaker and Cushman 1 ). Nowadays casino industry is a large business in the United States that brings high revenues and offers various entertainment that attracts people from different areas. So just recently residents and visitors of Worcester, Wicomico and surrounding counties got a great opportunity to try themselves in a new Ocean Downs casino that came into operation couple months ago. Ocean Downs casino is an excellent benefit to the community that helps to improve the economic and social status of the county and also serves as a great entertainment for the adult population.
Expanding gambling can increase gambling addiction. Compulsive gambling addiction is a social issue that is related to gambling. In the past, compulsive gambling was thought of as an issue or behavior for adults. However, “today’s youth are the first generation to grow up in a society where gambling is legal, easily accessible, and in most cases government supported” (Monaghan & Derevensky 537). Gambling is often advertised in the media as a quick and easy way to “get rich” and is rarely seen
“Why We Keep Playing the Lottery”, by freelance journalist Adam Piore takes a very in depth look as to what drives millions of Americans to continually play the lottery when their chances of winning are virtually non-existent. He believes that because the odds of winning the lottery are so small that Americans lose the ability to conceptualize how unlikely it is that they are going to win, and therefore the risk of playing has less to do with the outcome, and more to do with hope that they are feeling when they decide to play. It 's essentially, "a game where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale." (Piore 700) He also states that many Americans would rather play the lottery thinking ,"boy, I could win $100 million" (705) as opposed to thinking about all of the money they could lose over time.
There are many reasons why people gamble and what the advantages and disadvantages are of risking your bank account on the roll of the dice or the luck of the draw. I originally set out to try and explain why people gamble, but I realized that gambling is just as much of a business or industry as anything else. I researched Foxwoods casino, in CT, and the business behind that. From there I will attempt to explain the “cause and effect” of gambling. Gambling has made much more sense to me now, and I hope it will do the same for you.
The adrenaline-rushing feeling of gambling offers people the idea that opportunity lies within their hands. Unfortunately, there are far too many consequences to gambling to even begin to count. To win you must play, and to win big you must play big. As more gamblers can recall their losses rather than their winnings, gamblers are often dealt with poor hands and must play the risky game to stay alive. Even though gambling has so many faults, some still fall under its corruptions because of gambling’s deceiving fallacies.
By understanding the golden mean, one can achieve a proper balance between insufficiencies and over-indulgence. Individuals who are able to control the amount of time and money they gamble are successfully able to achieve the golden mean. By giving oneself a sufficient amount of time and money to gamble, one shows that they are able to fulfill the virtue of temperance. Should the individual had not given themselves sufficient time and money to gamble, they would be deficient in the amount of temperance they should have exercised, which would be a vice. On the other hand, should the individual spend too much time and money on gambling, they would be in excess of the amount of temperance they should have used, which would also be a vice. Furthermore, many of the behaviors seen in compulsive gamblers would lead to more vices, since continuing to gamble would likely result in deficiencies in honesty and respect, and an excess in
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable, but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article, “the power of habit” by Charles Duhigg, it states how Angie Bachmann became addicted to gambling and how it was entirely her fault because she kept accepting the offers from casinos and many other reasons. Both the casino and Angie knew what they were doing by Angie letting herself get into the situation and the casino encouraging it. She started out as a well-settled housewife. When everybody left the house, she ended up all alone without having much to do. Because of this, one day, as she was passing through the streets, she decided to visit a casino for a change. “She knew gambling could lead to trouble, so
Compulsive gambling is considered to be a type of impulse-control disorder. Even when the addict is aware that their addiction is negatively affecting their life, they cannot stop the impulse to gamble regardless of the consequences. The mental health community distinguishes between problem gambling and gambling addiction. Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that affects your life. Gambling addiction is where the person is unable to resist the impulse to gamble. The must gamble regardless of the consequences. A common myth is that problem gamblers have to gamble every day. When in reality it can be either frequent or infrequent. It is normally cyclic. Where there are periods of gambling, followed by rest periods and then back to gambling. People can go for months without gambling and still be considered to have a gambling addiction (Saison).
Gambling addiction is a unique addiction that can sneak up on just about anyone. Just about everyone has the urge to gamble or make a wager on something they
Problem gamblers are significantly more likely than non-problem gamblers to have a mental disorder, depression or an anxiety condition, trauma and hardship in their lives, and to smoke. Compared to non-problem gamblers, they also report a significantly higher number of negative life experiences affecting both themselves and their families, such as divorce, legal difficulties, and financial issues.
How can someone become so addicted to throwing their money away when they are already broke? This seems like an unreasonable question that is asked too often. Gambling becomes an addiction when it interferes with the regular lifestyle of someone or those close to him or her. Jeanne Seaga, Ph.D., Melinda Smith, M.A., and Lawrence Robinson say a gambler will withdraw from loved ones, sneak around, lie, and borrow or even steal money. Many people know of someone who gambles at a casino that does not know when to quit. It is easy to keep putting money into a slot machine to try and make back the difference lost. Gambling can potentially become dangerous, leading to family issues and financial breakdowns. Luckily, there are solutions to gambling that can mend broken relationships and bring a balanced income back into the picture for recovering addicts.
Should Gambling Be Legalized? Over the past twenty or so years, great wealth and improved economic and social conditions have been promised to the communities that have embraced legalized gambling. However, with twenty years of experience it is time to. look back and analyze whether this is true or not.
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article by Charles Duhigg ‘the power of habit’ Angie Bachmann got addicted to gambling, it was because of her fault as she kept accepting the offers from cassino and many other reasons.. Both knew what they were doing but still Angie let herself get into the situation, and the casino encouraged it. She was a well settled housewife, when everybody used to leave the house she was all alone. One fine day, while passing through the street she took a visit to casino just for a change.
As previously mentioned, the issue at the center of the controversy or debate is morality or ethics. Morality or ethics has been at the heart of controversies regarding gambling because some people consider it as unethical. The consideration of gambling as an immoral act is largely attributed to religious beliefs and stigma of obtaining money relatively for nothing. Moreover, the ethical dilemmas and concerns associated with gambling is brought by the emergence of problem gamblers who account for nearly 2.1 percent of total number of gamblers (Kannon, 2012). Therefore, ethical concerns and dilemmas in gambling are fueled by the inherently sinful attitude about the activities, which generate a classical ethical problem from an individual level
Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our government has sought out a few solutions that help those who have developed an addiction and prevent a further increase in the number of people becoming addicted. Personally, my outlook on the problem is that it needs a better solution. I think that a higher funding to gambling addiction clinics, more ordinance and restriction laws, and more prevention and awareness programs should bee brought into consideration in order to lower the amount of people who become addict to gambling.