Essay On Gambling

Addiction according to the American Psychological Association is a condition in which the body must have a substance or perform a certain activity to avoid psychological or physical withdrawal symptoms (APA). There are two subtypes to addiction; the first type is the digestive addiction which mainly is related to alcohol, drugs food. The second type of addiction is activity addiction which concerns work, shopping, sex, exercise etc. Gambling is one of the activity addiction subtypes. (S. A. Jaoude) “Gambling in various forms has been around throughout recorded history” (H. Vacek, 2011). Gambling was a regulated in China, Rome, Jewish Talmud and Buddhism. Heavy gamblers could be sentenced to slavery in the quarries. The first gambling game was of marked sticks and other objects to interpret the outcome which back in the day was the intention of the Gods. Even the word dice is derived from the Greek work “dike” which means “to throw”. Sociologists consider gambling to be a deviant act but what is deviant or not to the widespread people varies. Nonetheless, this illusion isn’t right as it may cause a lot of problems on many levels such as financial setbacks, household difficulties and psychological problems.

Gambling as we all know isn’t always a game that can be won; the odds are always against you which mean that some people may fall into serious financial problems getting into heavy gambling. Gambling could cause many financial setbacks such as falling into debts, bankruptcy and unemployment. A sample of 1,612 adolescents from nine different high schools in the region of Québec city took a questionnaire developed by Lesieur and Klein (1987) concerning their gambling experiences. The study shows significant numbers of students wh...

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...mes more likely to get a divorce or get separated (Tark, 2008).

To conclude, gambling as one of the most ancient activities of time is a very precarious undertaking. Heavy gambling may lead to many problems such as financial problems, family and psychological dysfunction. Gamblers loan money from family members and friends, and can reach to a point of bankruptcy and unemployment. Gamblers also suffer from family problems because of their inability to be honest with their families and keep a close relationship with them. Finally we can say that gamblers suffer not only from the gambling addiction but from other psychological deficiencies such as depression, aggression and substance abuse which leads to domestic violence and a probability of a divorce. Gambling is an activity any adult can participate in; gambling should be strictly prohibited all over the world.