Is Gambling a Risk? There’s no easy way to define what a risk is, since it’s a very general term that has negative social construction attached to it. The word risk can be used to define any series of words or ideas and that’s when the word risk really begins to shine. Risk is a word that pulls on the string that hold up the neural pathways in our brain in which these everyday pathways define who we are. Risk is that voice in the back of your head that is whispering to you on what any of possible possibilities may happen to you when you really want to do something, or buy something, or even begin to even think about something. Then, there's the feeling of outrage that follows, sometimes it is minimal and other times it's gone completely nuclear …show more content…
According to the article Gambling Addiction by Mara Tyler from the website Healthline, where she gives a quick insight to what causes gambling addiction. Tyler describes an overactive region of the brain called the insula, which would cause distortion to the thought process of the brain at random times while the person may be betting/gambling. She compares the risk of gambling to a drinker who enjoys a drink, presuming that she means a hard-alcoholic drink and not a soft drink like soda or she could possibly be referring to some Georgia peach sweet tea. This can be compared to the tendencies of self-sabotage. When your gut is telling you that you shouldn’t do, but your mind, body, and soul tell you that you should do because it provides a sweet release to what personal hell or torment you have placed yourself in. I know that I’ve done it and it is a deep hole to come out of when self-sabotaging for it doesn’t just stop at one when wanting to escape, even if it’s for a little …show more content…
Nordqvist gives another point of view about gambling saying, “Many people who develop a gambling addiction are considered responsible and dependable people.” It might be possible that the risk of gambling may have different types of personality traits that may cause someone who has an addiction look and act like they are an everyday average joe. Returning to the where there is one and another is soon to follow, Nordqvist says that addicts can develop other risks like taking in a vast amount of alcohol, doing drugs, or possibly doing both as they are feeding their gambling addiction. These actions are done to combat the negative effect that that gambler may be feeling when he or she begins to exhibit negative feelings about gambling since they have the possibility of being predisposition to develop these second risks (Nordqvist) that would jeopardize their physical and mental well-being. Furthermore, there are also people who have a higher chance of developing a gambling problem. Nordqvist describes a list of people who can develop the addiction. He describes how age factors into the addiction stating that is common among younger and middle-aged people. Also, biological sex also factors in stating that males have a higher chance of developing the addiction than women. Of course, there are drugs that are both legal and illegal, but he continues that the cause is closer to home stating that a family member or friends who already
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable, but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article, “the power of habit” by Charles Duhigg, it states how Angie Bachmann became addicted to gambling and how it was entirely her fault because she kept accepting the offers from casinos and many other reasons. Both the casino and Angie knew what they were doing by Angie letting herself get into the situation and the casino encouraging it. She started out as a well-settled housewife. When everybody left the house, she ended up all alone without having much to do. Because of this, one day, as she was passing through the streets, she decided to visit a casino for a change. “She knew gambling could lead to trouble, so
Expanding gambling can increase gambling addiction. Compulsive gambling addiction is a social issue that is related to gambling. In the past, compulsive gambling was thought of as an issue or behavior for adults. However, “today’s youth are the first generation to grow up in a society where gambling is legal, easily accessible, and in most cases government supported” (Monaghan & Derevensky 537). Gambling is often advertised in the media as a quick and easy way to “get rich” and is rarely seen
There are many reasons why people gamble and what the advantages and disadvantages are of risking your bank account on the roll of the dice or the luck of the draw. I originally set out to try and explain why people gamble, but I realized that gambling is just as much of a business or industry as anything else. I researched Foxwoods casino, in CT, and the business behind that. From there I will attempt to explain the “cause and effect” of gambling. Gambling has made much more sense to me now, and I hope it will do the same for you.
“And a few studies suggest that some people are especially vulnerable to both drug addiction and compulsive gambling because their reward circuitry is inherently underactive—which may partially explain why they seek big thrills in the first place” (Jabr). For Bachmann, her reward was not only winning money but having that “thrill” to keep herself happy since her environment and her personal problems made her feel lonely. Environment plays a huge role in Bachmann’s gambling addiction because it motivates her to go to the casino more. “Drugs, perhaps, are like chemical electrodes. They excite that dormant median forebrain bundle, causing it to crave more and more the same way scratching a bug bite only ignites the itch” (Slater). Comparing drugs to gambling is very similar because when Bachmann is gambling she feels excited and she craves it because she wants to get away from reality. Her environment at home gave off negative vibes because her husband is at work all the time and when he got home they had nothing to talk about. Also, her father and brother won awards in song writing which gave her an impression that she is worthless because she became a
There are various approaches to addiction I will be comparing the behaviourist and psychodynamic approaches to see which provides the most compelling explanation of addiction. The behaviourist approach states change in behaviour happens due to past experiences and our actions are a result of the environment. (Glassman and Hadad, 2013). The environment in which we exist makes us act in a certain way for example, seeing people around us do acts like smoking and gambling may make an individual want to participate in those acts (Gross,2015). The psychodynamic approach on the other hand claims behaviour is determined by the unconscious mind and our actions have a motive behind them, which reflect our early childhood experiences (Gross, 2015).
If you ask many people why they gamble, their response is "it is like a drug" (5). Compulsive gambling is a behavior which relies on brain circuits that evolved to help animals assess rewards important to their survival. Researchers have found that those same circuits are used by the human brain to assess social rewards. They found that the brain systems that detect and evaluate such rewards generally operate outside of conscious awareness. The study said that much of what happens in the brain goes outside of conscious awareness.
Addiction is something that may seem inevitable but at the end it’s entirely the fault of a person who is addicted. In the article by Charles Duhigg ‘the power of habit’ Angie Bachmann got addicted to gambling, it was because of her fault as she kept accepting the offers from cassino and many other reasons.. Both knew what they were doing but still Angie let herself get into the situation, and the casino encouraged it. She was a well settled housewife, when everybody used to leave the house she was all alone. One fine day, while passing through the street she took a visit to casino just for a change.
Gambling can be addicting.Gambling is something that I don't necessarily like.Gambling is a bad idea because once your addicted it then controls you.You can lose tons of money.For example, Pete Rose had gambled on himself, Pete would then no longer be able to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame.This is why gambling is a really bad idea for the world.Then you have more poor people buying the cards and trying to get rich, and most likely they end up failing and losing money.Yet, if the poor people do end up winning they do not spend the money wisely and end back where they started or even losing some money.
The article, “The Power of Habit” (chapter 9), by Charles Duhigg, is about Angie Bachmann who was addicted to gambling. It all started one day when she felt so lonely that she decided to go out and play in the nearest casino. Angie started by setting rules just so she would not become addicted. As days went by Angie slowly started to break her rules and gambled more than what she should of have. Angie lost a lot of money. Although, Harrah’s casino would send her free stuff and vacation trips to get Angie to play more. Angie realized that she had a problem with gambling and went away for a time, but she went back to Harrah’s casino when her parents inherit her money. Angie lost all the money that she inherited and started to get loans
In the article “ The Neurology Of Free Will” by Charles Duhigg , Angie Bachmann is responsible for her gambling addiction and her actions . Bachmann addiction changes her life because she made a wrong decision in her life. Angie Bachmann life was routine , reward , and cue. She was responsible for addiction because she could control herself and nothing of this situation would happen to her if she would ask for help by solving her addiction . Angie Bachmann got out of control because she would go to the casino to play games and Bachmann sometimes would win or lose . Angie Bachmann’s was bored and she decides to enjoy her life . After she took her first to the casino, Bachmann started going with a riverboat once a week and that’s where her
Addiction, like other diseases, has the tendency to be genetic. “Addictive drugs induce adaptive changes in gene expression in the brain’s reward regions” (Bevilacqua and Goldman 359–361). The disease is also influenced by environmental conditions and behavior. Addiction genes can be passed down through family members of many generations. If one has addiction in their genes tries a drug and someone who does not have addiction in their genes and tries the same drug, it is more likely that the person with the gene will become addicted over the one without. Environmental conditions can also be a factor because someone’s lifestyle could contribute to addiction. Factors such as stress and peer pressure can influence drug or alcohol abuse. Behavior can also contribute to addiction because if a person’s attitude is obsessive and they have an addictive personality, they could become addicted to a substance. In “Addiction is Not a Disease” Daniel Akst explains actual diseases are Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia, not addiction. For example, Akst mentions that “addicts tend to quit when the going gets hard” (Akst.) He also clarifies that addicts have the choice to have that extra drink or those extra pills every
Compulsive gambling is considered to be a type of impulse-control disorder. Even when the addict is aware that their addiction is negatively affecting their life, they cannot stop the impulse to gamble regardless of the consequences. The mental health community distinguishes between problem gambling and gambling addiction. Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that affects your life. Gambling addiction is where the person is unable to resist the impulse to gamble. The must gamble regardless of the consequences. A common myth is that problem gamblers have to gamble every day. When in reality it can be either frequent or infrequent. It is normally cyclic. Where there are periods of gambling, followed by rest periods and then back to gambling. People can go for months without gambling and still be considered to have a gambling addiction (Saison).
The adrenaline-rushing feeling of gambling offers people the idea that opportunity lies within their hands. Unfortunately, there are far too many consequences to gambling to even begin to count. To win you must play, and to win big you must play big. As more gamblers can recall their losses rather than their winnings, gamblers are often dealt with poor hands and must play the risky game to stay alive. Even though gambling has so many faults, some still fall under its corruptions because of gambling’s deceiving fallacies.
Is the negative point of view strong enough for us to want to outlaw gambling because of its addictive nature? Gambling can only be seen as entertainment if the person gambling has limits on how much he or she bets and knows when to stop. A gambler starts betting with small amounts of money and slowly larger and larger bets will follow. There are three stages of gambling addiction. according to the Arizona Council on Compulsive Gambling, Inc. phase, loss phase and depression phase.
Risk was defined as expose (someone or something valued) to danger, harm, or loss. It can also be defined as a situation involving