Gambling is a form of risk taking that provides people with an adrenaline rush and a sense of adventure. For some, it is a way to socialise with friends and family or escape from worries and stress. However, for many individuals gambling becomes a serious problem and they can lose control of their finances and health.<\/p>\n
The harms associated with gambling can be seen at individual, interpersonal and community\/society levels. Individual level impacts are mainly non-monetary and include invisible individual costs (e.g. emotional costs, loss of self-esteem and a sense of worth) and costs related to problem gambling. Interpersonal and community\/society level externalities are largely monetary in nature. They include the costs incurred by gamblers\u2019 families, friends and work colleagues as well as community level costs (e.g. loss of jobs, escalating debt and homelessness).<\/p>\n
There are a number of things you can do to help someone you know who has a gambling problem. For example, you could encourage them to write down a list of all the positive things they enjoy about their life and remind themselves of these when the urge to gamble arises. You can also help them find other ways to fill their time, such as exercise, hobbies and spending time with friends who don\u2019t gamble. Joining a peer support group is another option for many people who have had a problem with gambling. These groups are based on the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous and offer a support network for those who have struggled with a gambling addiction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gambling is a form of risk taking that provides people with an adrenaline rush and a sense of adventure. For some, it is a way to socialise with friends and family or escape from worries and stress. However, for many individuals gambling becomes a serious problem and they can lose control of their finances and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gambling"],"yoast_head":"\n