Gambling is the betting or staking of something of value, with consciousness of risk and hope of gain. Gambling is a dangerous behaviour that can have devastating consequences for individuals and their families, as well as society as a whole.
People with gambling problems can experience distress in many areas of their lives – relationships and family life, work, finances, health, and emotional wellbeing. These consequences can be short term or long-lasting, and can be intergenerational. They can also affect the ability to learn and develop, and can lead to criminal activity.
Despite a high level of societal acceptance of gambling, the impact on individual and collective health is serious. It may be aggravated by an over-focus on revenue generation to the detriment of reducing harm. This can create vicious cycles: a surplus of money generates dependencies for private companies, civil society and good cause beneficiaries; but it also leads to higher costs for problem gamblers and their families, which is not offset by the additional revenue.
A multisectoral approach is required to prevent and reduce gambling-related harms. This includes reducing stigma and shame around gambling disorders, ending advertising and promotion of gaming products and services, providing centralized account registration to require those who gamble to set binding loss limits, limiting access to physical gambling establishments (e.g., hours of operation), and implementing other population-wide interventions. Research into the cultural dimensions of gambling is warranted to inform prevention and intervention approaches that are more sensitive to these issues.