One of the most popular forms of entertainment for most people these days is gambling. In fact, so many people are addicted to gambling that it affects everyone both socially and economically. This article will show you the negative side of gambling.
At first, gambling affects only the person who is doing it. After some time, when the money runs out, it will begin to show its effects on the family. This happens when the savings, the property itself, the car or some personal belongings have been repossessed or pawned.
As a result, the spouse and the children will have mixed feelings of anger, betrayal and fear. Soon, news will spread about what is happening to the family, which makes them feel ashamed and decide to avoid other people.
Gambling puts a toll on one’s physical health because everyone will soon feel the crunch and be up tight. Some will have a hard time sleeping while others will develop bowel problems, ulcers, headaches and muscle pain.
Burnout will most likely happen especially to the person trying to keep things together. After that, the children will feel abandoned and depressed. Promises will be broken and resentment will occur. As a way of clamoring for attention, they will begin to do misdeeds in the hopes that things at home will improve.
Some parents that have become gamblers will inflict verbal or physical abuse. Things will continue to get ugly until the person realizes that this bad habit is destroying the family.
Things take a nasty turn when parents themselves become addicted to the very thing that they strongly advise their children to go against but then, gambling has always been a tempting game where even the best of the best succumb to desire to win big and it doesn’t matter if it is situs slot online or blackjack, the only objective is to win.
Just to give you an idea, outside the US, 25-50 percent of the spouses of gamblers have been abused. Just like their mothers, children of these gamblers are often prone to suffer abuse as well as neglect. These children are at a higher risk of developing health-threatening behaviors including alcohol and drug abuse. They also suffer from eating disorders and sometimes commit suicide because of depression.
Studies also show that 1 percent of adults are estimated to meet the criteria for compulsive gambling in a given year. Another 2 to 3 percent would be considered as problem gamblers.
A problem gambler negatively loses 10 to 17 people around them, making it a negative impact on the person’s social life. The grownups are not the only people to fall into this type of behavior because the majority of those doing this now are adolescents and those who have just reached the age of 18.
Thanks to the advances in technology, it has made gambling more accessible because you don’t even have to go to the casino because you can play online poker or call a bookie to place a bet.
People who turn to gambling also lose time from work. This affects the company especially if the individual has a very important position. Management during this time will try their best to persuade the employee to change.
If this doesn’t work, the company has no choice but to fire this person and get someone else. Getting rid of someone is easy if there is just cause. But just imagine that time and effort needed to hire and train a new employee? That is also a waste of money.
If one gambler destroys him or her and the family, what more occurs if other people are also doing the same thing? The country’s unemployment rate and the number of people who file for divorce will rise while the gross domestic product goes down.
Indeed, there is a relationship between the gambler and those around him. It may be legal but children have to be educated so the young will not make the same mistake as adults. Some will say that gambling creates jobs but that is just one side of the coin.
What about those who were affected in the process? They should not be thought of merely as a statistic but something that everyone must work on. Support groups and non-profit organizations have started to help gamblers quit the old habit so healing can begin.
