Gambling involves placing something of value (usually money) at risk on an event whose outcome depends on chance, with the hope of gaining more than was invested. It can take many forms, including lottery tickets, scratch cards, games of chance, sports events, casino games, card games, bingo and races. Gambling can be dangerous and lead to addiction, but it also provides entertainment and excitement. Many people who engage in gambling do so for fun, and many do not suffer from gambling problems.
However, for those who are susceptible to developing a gambling problem it can be very damaging to their physical and mental health. It can affect their relationships, performance at work or study and cause them to get into serious debt and even homelessness. It can also harm their family and friends and lead to suicide. It is estimated that around two million people in the UK have a gambling problem and it is more common in men than women. People can develop a gambling problem at any age, from early childhood through to old age.
Despite the negative impact gambling can have on individuals, it does bring benefits to society and the economy as a whole. It contributes a large percentage to the GDP of countries across the world and provides employment to a number of individuals.
Although the positive aspects of gambling are clear, there are some who oppose it for religious reasons and believe that it is sinful. However, the Bible has nothing to say about whether gambling is a sin, and it is important not to let this opinion influence our own beliefs.
The benefits and costs of gambling can be seen at three levels: personal, interpersonal, and societal/community. Personal and interpersonal levels involve direct effects on gamblers themselves, while societal/ community level impacts affect those outside of the gambler’s immediate family such as the effect of gambling on a family’s financial situation or the impact on work performance.
Understanding the benefits and risks of gambling is a complex task, as researchers, psychiatrists, other treatment care clinicians, and public policy makers tend to frame the question differently depending on their discipline, special interest, and disciplinary training. This has contributed to a variety of nomenclatures and different paradigms or world views from which to consider gambling. In the past, it was largely viewed as a compulsion rather than an addiction, and the American Psychiatric Association classified pathological gambling under impulse control disorders in previous editions of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. More recently, however, this understanding has undergone a profound change. In the latest edition of the DSM, pathological gambling was moved to the addictions chapter alongside kleptomania, pyromania and trichotillomania. This was a major shift in thinking and is a significant step towards the recognition of gambling as an addictive behavior. The change was prompted in part by research showing that some forms of gambling may be more like an addiction than a compulsion.