Gaming or Gambling: Can Fun Turn into Addiction?

There has been a lot of talk in the media about the blurring lines between gaming and gambling. Some people start playing casino games for having good time and they start spending hours on that. Each time after spending at least 5-6 hours daily on these games they say: “This feels good! I want more!”. What begins as a harmless good feeling can turn into a compulsive need like this. For many people, gambling is harmless fun, but it can become a problem. This type of compulsive behavior is often called “problem gambling.” For someone with a gambling addiction, the feeling of gambling is equivalent to taking a drug or having a drink. Gambling behavior alters the person’s mood and state of mind. As the person becomes used to this feeling, they keep repeating the behavior, attempting to achieve that same effect. In other addictions, alcohol, for instance, the person starts developing a tolerance. An increasing amount of alcohol is necessary for the same “buzz.” A person who has an addiction to gambling needs to gamble more to get the same “high.” In some instances, they “chase” their losses, thinking that if they continue to engage in gambling, they will win back the lost money. A vicious circle and an increased craving for the activity develops. At the same time, the ability to resist drops. As the craving grows in intensity and frequency, the ability to control the urge to gamble is weakened. This can have a psychological, personal, physical, social, or professional impact.

Neither the frequency of gambling nor the amount lost will determine whether gambling is a problem for an individual. Some people engage in periodic gambling binges rather than regularly, but the emotional and financial consequences will be the same.

Gambling becomes a problem when the person can no longer stop doing it, and when it causes a negative impact on any area of the individual’s life.

Do Online Casinos Cause Gambling Addiction ?

As online and real casinos have a lot in common people can easily fall into gambling addiction by playing it. Online casinos can trigger desire of winning and playing more and more which later can lead to addiction. Gambling addiction—also known as pathological gambling, compulsive gambling or gambling disorder—is an impulse-control disorder. If you’re a compulsive gambler, you can’t control the impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for you or your loved ones. You’ll gamble whether you’re up or down, broke or flush, and you’ll keep gambling regardless of the consequences—even when you know that the odds are against you or you can’t afford to lose.

Gambling problems can happen to anyone from any walk of life. Your gambling goes from a fun, harmless diversion to an unhealthy obsession with serious consequences. Whether you bet on sports, scratch cards, roulette, poker, or slots—in a casino, at the track, or online—a gambling problem can strain your relationships, interfere with work, and lead to financial disaster. You may even do things you never thought you would, like running up huge debts or even stealing money to gamble.

Of course, you can also have a gambling problem without being totally out of control. Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that disrupts your life. If you’re preoccupied with gambling, spending more and more time and money on it, chasing losses, or gambling despite serious consequences in your life, you have a gambling problem.

A gambling addiction or problem is often associated with other behavior or mood disorders. Many problem gamblers also suffer with substance abuse issues, unmanaged ADHD, stress, depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. To overcome your gambling problems, you’ll also need to address these and any other underlying causes as well.

On the other side of the world, there are thousands of free, casino-style games waiting to be downloaded or played on websites, which encourages people to play casino games without a chance to win and reduce the risk of addiction. However, researchers with the Canadian Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found a link between young people playing these games and developing gambling addictions later in life. Even games that aren’t overtly trying to mimic casino games like slots or poker can still encourage and cultivate an affinity for placing bets and learning how casino games work at all, the authors say.

These games allow people to try common casino table games, slots, and card games like poker without betting actual money. The games still require players to place bets and win or lose, but players win and lose points or prizes within the game itself only. Since these games don’t involve money changing hands, they aren’t legally classified as gambling and are unregulated. Researchers say many of these games are designed to let participants win more frequently than they would in real life, which could lead a vulnerable teen to believe they’re better gamblers than they really are.

There may be some cases of gambling addiction because of the increased accessibility, but there is no evidence to date to suggest that the incidence rate of problem gambling has increased.

As with other forms of gambling including the lottery, it is a buyer beware situation because there are no independent monitors or controls that prevent you from betting your mortgage money. It is literally up to the gambler to follow the old adage: “Bet with your head, and not over it.”

The new online systems do allow for players to voluntarily set limits on their own accounts that will send them a flag if they have bet past a certain limit, or been playing for longer than a pre-set time. But those limits are better controlled, and can be overridden.

There is also a cyber-version of the voluntary self-exclusion list, accessible from the Gaming Control Board’s site that people can put themselves on to literally ban them from playing at any on-line site for one year, five years, or life. That’s an unbreakable ban. But again, it requires the player to take the first step.

The Internet has made gambling far more accessible and, therefore, harder for recovering addicts to avoid relapse. Online casinos and bookmakers are open all day, every day for anyone with a smartphone or access to a computer. But maintaining recovery from gambling addiction or problem gambling is still possible if you surround yourself with people to whom you’re accountable, avoid tempting environments and websites, give up control of your finances (at least), and find healthier activities to replace gambling in your life.

What Causes Compulsive Gambling?

All compulsive behaviours have social, psychological and biological origins. Gambling brings us into contact with others, even if we are using internet gaming rooms. This can provide a sense of community, however damaging the associated behaviours. Social meaning and acceptance by others are important to us all and for the compulsive gambler these can be found in virtual gaming rooms, real casinos, bookmakers and so on.

Gambling also changes how we feel psychologically as well as socially. It allows us to escape our normal lives and the everyday struggles we experience. During a period of gambling our mind is occupied by the odds, the bet, the race, the actions of other gamers, the run of the cards and so on. It can be all-consuming and therefore provides an engaging, exciting escape from ordinary life.

At the biological level, compulsive behaviours can have a direct effect on the brains dopamine reward system. This system regulates our responses to natural rewards like food, sex and social interaction. Repeated compulsive behaviours can act on this system with a power and persistence that changes its cells chemically and structurally. This in turn can have an overwhelming effect on our well-being. People may no longer respond normally to rewards such as food, sex and social interaction, and instead depend on gambling for their sense of reward.

Compulsive gambling can therefore develop through the social meaning and psychological relief that it offers. This is further compounded by the chemical changes in our brain that accompany these experiences. It is in fact artificial to separate these factors since they all occur simultaneously for the compulsive gambler. Social meaning, psychological relief and a fired dopamine reward system can be a difficult combination of experiences for the most hardy of individuals to resist.

 Sensible Gambling

Some people say that there is no such thing as safe gambling. Others argue that gambling is like drinking alcohol – it’s safe to do as long as you follow some sensible rules.

• You should keep away from high-risk forms of gambling where you can lose large sums of money very quickly.
• You should limit the amount of time you gamble. This will give you time to do other, more important things with your life.
• You should limit the amount you spend to the amount you can afford to lose. When you have spent this much, walk away.
• You need to quit while you are ahead. If you continue, you are likely to lose because the odds are always stacked against you. That’s how bookies and the casinos make their money.

According to the recent researches number of people spending time on online casinos has increased 30 % in last 5 years. There are also some people starting these games for the entertainment purposes, later on switching to real casino games.

Though online casino industry has developed a lot in last years, there is still high chance of fraud. There are a lot of tricky online casinos that encourge people to play again and again by embezzling their money and making them to lose. In order to avoid being scammed like this, casino players in Germany mainly choose their casino after reading site reviews. Some review sites such as  this site  can offer right casino to you.

Online V/S Offline Casino Gambling :

In the modern era, for most of the people, gambling is one of the most attractive things among entertaining activities. Either rich or poor, all may be used to gamble. It does not only require compulsive  behavior to gamble in casinos. There are many people interested in playing games for winning money; rich play in casinos and poor plays at small places. You can gamble online as well as offline; it is up to you to choose which one is suitable for you.

It is a demanding question among people about the difference between online and offline gambling. Here in the post, we will break out some of the points which will explain you the differences between offline and online gambling. You can take help from the post to take out the suitable option for you to go with.

Difference:

Here are few points given below which is enough to take out the appropriate result for you. Those points are:-

Offline gambling– You can’t play the game at the place where ever you want. In this, you need to go to the casino to play it.

Online gambling– You can play gambling with your digital gadgets also. In those gadgets, you can log on to the websites, and they will provide you with the service to gamble in your gadget. So you can play wherever you want.

Environment : Environment plays a very vital role to create an atmosphere of playing and impacting on your lifestyle.

Offline gambling– In this case, you will play with many other gamblers at a casino which is made very effectively. It creates an excellent environment to play.

 Online gambling– On the other side, in this case, you have to play it with yourself only by sitting at your home. You might feel it not so interesting, if you play it on your phone. It can have a bad impact on your playing skills also. However, as there is no real casino atmosphere while gambling online, it becomes easier for you to monitor your behavior and limit yourself from losing fortunes.

Casino gambling is very much famous among people, and it is mostly played by the people for making money. It has the ability to attract the people and obviously it can make you be addicted. Gambling is made for fun and entertainment so it is better not to play it for money but play it for only enjoyment.