The costs of problem gambling are often invisible and non-monetary, but there are also social and community costs. In addition to monetary losses, these costs include health impacts and economic costs. Listed below are some of these costs: Personal level costs: invisible individual costs related to the problem gambling and its associated effects. In addition, community and society-level costs may also become visible, such as in the case of family members seeking help. However, the majority of these costs are still unrecognized and invisible to the community and society.
Problem gambling
Problem gambling is a mental health issue that affects many people. Fortunately, treatment options include therapy, medications, and lifestyle changes. In some cases, the problem can also be a symptom of bipolar disorder. Various types of therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, aim to alter the individual’s false beliefs and harmful gambling behaviors. These methods help the person learn coping mechanisms and develop new ways of dealing with situations.
Problem gambling in young people shares many similarities with problem gambling in adults, according to Blaszczynski and Nower’s (2002) Pathways Model. For example, some young people may be attracted to gambling due to family influences, or because of the chance of winning money.
Economic harms
Economic harms associated with gambling include over-indebtedness, lost household funds, and homelessness. Gambling is a problem that has particularly devastating effects on low-income individuals, who often lack the resources to cover their basic living costs. Other harmful consequences of gambling include job loss, housing instability, and criminal behaviour.
A new study by the University of Oxford reveals the many social and economic harms of gambling. According to the study, every ten percent increase in gambling expenditure increases the risk of missing payments. Further, it links gambling to higher mortality and disability rates. The study calls for increased research and regulation on gambling to determine the full costs of the industry.
Health impacts
Research on the health impacts of gambling focuses on a number of factors. In the first decade of research, researchers sought to identify the harms caused by gambling and frame it as a public health issue. They also sought to understand the factors that may contribute to gambling-related harm from a social determinant of health perspective.
These research efforts have yielded a variety of results. One result was a new taxonomy of gambling-related harms. This taxonomy formed the foundation for a number of harm measurement instruments. Another was a new burden-of-disease approach, which compares gambling harm to other health conditions. Finally, the Framework for Action, developed in Great Britain, was designed to help policymakers measure the social costs of gambling harm. The framework offers metrics that can be used in population surveys.
Social costs
There are several social costs associated with gambling. These include lost work time, unemployment, bad debts, thefts, and the cost of the criminal justice system, civil court, and welfare. These costs are often intangible and difficult to quantify. The best informants about these costs are people in counseling. These costs are not always obvious, and the broader scope of these studies is necessary for identifying the most comprehensive list.
The societal costs of gambling vary depending on the method used to determine them. Some studies use a bottom-up method, involving a unit cost per person, and others use a lump sum method. For example, in Sweden, the costs are based on the number of people affected by problem gambling. Some studies use epidemiological data from the Swelogs survey and unit cost data from Statistics Sweden.