Compulsive Gambling a Lifetime Long Problem Essay

Compulsive Gambling a Lifetime Long Problem - Essay Example While gambling can be a harmless activity for many people, for others it can be a dangerous activity that has the potential to destroy their lives. Compulsive gambling can lead to many problems for the participants and their families, often leading to high levels of stress, the loss of finances and criminal activity. For pathological gamblers, the relaxing activity of gambling has progressed into a more serious and dangerous pastime. People in this position generally lack the ability to control their gambling habits. They are not able to stop gambling, even if they do not have the finances to support their bets. This is the most severe form of gambling and is considered to be a mental disorder. Current estimates place pathological gambling as being five percent of the gambling population .The terms compulsive and problem gambling are also used, often interchangeably, although sometimes problem gambling is also used to refer to other gambling problems that do not fall under the defini tion of pathological .Gambling is traditionally considered an addition, even though it does not have any of the obvious physical signs that most addictions share. Because of this, it is easier for people to hide their addiction, and this makes intervention difficult . There are many different causes of gambling and research has yet to fully determine how these interact with one another. One study examined three characteristics of individuals that could potentially have an effect on likelihood of gambling, these were personality, perceived luck and attitude towards gambling. The authors found that personality traits had a significant influence on the development of problem gambling. These traits included emotional stability, reasoning, openness to change and social boldness although there were many others . Research suggests that the more gambling activities that a person is involved in, such as slots, card gambling and betting on racetracks, the greater change they have of being inv olved in problem gambling . Research has shown a significant link between gambling and crime. Many problem gamblers lose large amounts of money in their bets, and may turn to crime to try and pay their debts, to maintain the appearance of normality or to continue gambling. However, the direction of this interaction is not clear. Gamblers may be more likely to become criminals, or being criminals may make one more likely to gamble . Law has moved away from banning gambling and towards finding methods of regulating it. This includes giving local authorities the ability to act if a location breaches gambling laws. Authorities have the ability to inspect gambling locations, to review licenses and to enforce conditions . This means that the number of locations that gambling can occur is limited, and prevents a boom of gambling and associated gambling problems. This is particularly important, as research has shown that many aspects of gambling venues themselves are able to facilitate gamb ling and increase the frequency at which it occurs. A study on gambling accessibility showed that two factors were significant drivers of people choosing a particular location to gamble. The first of these was social accessibility, which related to how socially enjoyable the gambling location was. This included the atmosphere as well as the entertainment options that were present at the venue. The second aspect was