Gambling is an activity in which a person risks something of value (money or possessions) on the outcome of a game or other uncertain event with the awareness that they might lose it, in order to win something else of value. It ranges from the buying of a lottery ticket by someone who has little to nothing, to the sophisticated casino gambling of the wealthy. Although many people consider gambling to be an enjoyable pastime, for others it is a source of problems and may lead to financial instability, family distress and even bankruptcy and homelessness. In addition, the practice of gambling can cause serious health problems, such as addiction, and is often associated with crime.
The negative and positive effects of gambling are categorized into three classes: costs and benefits. The costs are divided into the following categories: financial, labor and health, and well-being. The financial impacts include changes in financial situations, including income, expenditures, and savings. Labor and health impacts affect the gambler’s ability to work, resulting in job gains, losses, or other changes, and can also affect their quality of life. The benefits of gambling include economic growth, tourism, and other industries.
Negative social impacts, such as increased family distress, financial difficulties, and deteriorating relationships are common. In addition, there are societal costs that are invisible to the gamblers themselves, such as higher prices for goods and services, decreased productivity, absenteeism and poor performance in work, stress, and the impact on society/community. These societal costs are sometimes measured by health-related quality of life (HRQL) weights, also known as disability weights, which measure the per-person burden of a condition on a person’s quality of life.
Some research has also observed positive financial consequences of gambling, such as increased economic growth and increased tax revenues in places where casinos have been introduced. However, the majority of studies on gambling and its harms have concentrated on the negative aspects of gambling, especially problems associated with pathological gambling.
For example, the number of suicides related to problem gambling has risen in recent years. This has occurred in part because our understanding of pathological gambling and its adverse consequences has changed. Previously, people who had a problem with gambling were described as having a “gambling habit”. Today, we know that it is much more likely that they have a mental disorder. The development of this new understanding is a result of the changes made to the diagnostic criteria for gambling disorders in the various editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association. These changes have been facilitated by the widespread availability of information about pathological gambling through the media and on the Internet. It is hoped that this information will help reduce the incidence of this serious mental illness.
