At the initial level, gambling seems to be an exciting activity but later it turns fatal for many, who become addicted to gambling. In fact, a large part of the world population is affected by gambling addiction. In America, the gambling addiction is found more in Caucasian Americans. Around 2.5 million are reported to be suffering from compulsive gambling and 15 million are likely to become problem gamblers in the coming years.
What Happens in Gambling Addiction?
The addicted gambler experiences a number of psychological, physical, financial and social dilemmas. Problems of alcohol and drug abuse also become associated with majority of the gambling addicts. Other problems associated with gambling addiction are mood disorder, depression and anti-social personality disorder.
Gambling addiction is very closely associated with a specific medical condition termed as compulsive or pathological gambling. In compulsive gambling, an increase in the uncontrollable preoccupation of the addict takes place with gambling, despite of the negative effects involved. To continue with their addiction, they also resort to means like cheating, lying and even stealing.
Studies reveal that the failures of gamblers are often perceived by them as “near win.” This is caused due to an inflated and faulty activation in their cortices’ region of the brain, which often deals with handling rewards. The gamblers are unable to comprehend that the mistakes are the same and will result in loss.
According to Luke Clark, the study researcher and expert at University of Cambridge, the same system is targeted by gambling as that by drug addiction, which is the dopamine system in the brain. In gambling, the neurotransmitter dopamine gets released during the “near miss” instances.
Primary Causes of Gambling Addiction
In females, this addiction is developed as a consequence of wanting to escape from unhappy situations such as broken relationships or marriages and job frustration or poor mental health such as depression, loneliness, anxiety or hopelessness. It usually affects women aged around 45 years and they gamble at places where heavy skill or experience is not required like slot machines.
In males, this addiction is developed due to low self-esteem or insecurities. It usually affects men aged around 35 years and they opt for competitive table games. Instead of improving their feelings, it often leads them to debt problems, financial losses and broken relationships.
Treatment of Gambling Addiction
Similar to a drug rehabilitation center, professional help treatments are provided to the addicted gamblers in terms of psychotherapy and medications. In treating this addiction, medications like anti-depressants are generally used. In psychotherapy, a useful technique is used where the gambler is asked to interpret the “near misses” in an accurate manner. Considering factors such as the addict’s age, severity of the problem and more, treatments are provided to the gamblers such as group activities and support and therapies dealing with cognitive behavior.
Gambling addiction often intervenes in psychological, physical, social and vocational spheres of life. The addiction of gambling could be devastating for not only the addict but to his or her family also. The only manner by which the loved ones can be protected from this addiction is by making them aware of the facts regarding the addiction.
To find out more about Gambling Addiction visit http://gambling-addiction-helpline.com. You will find various videos and important tips to Quit Gambling here.
Do you or someone you know have a gambling problem? Recent studies have shown that it may be caused by one or more of the following; alcoholism, bipolar disorder, major depression, drugs that may be prescribed to treat Parkinson’s disease, or even stress. Gambling is often used as a stress reliever and diversion, but for people with certain risk factors, it can lead to a problem and even pathological or compulsive gambling.
Clinicians who treat gambling problems usually agree that the best way to treat the problem is by immediate cessation, support groups, and controlling other contributing factors such as those mentioned above. Following that line of thought, for people who gamble to relieve stress, using a relaxation strategy may help to control the problem. But what exactly is a relaxation strategy and how can you use it effectively?
A relaxation strategy is a tailored plan to relieve stress in your life by
1. recognizing stressors (when possible)
2. eliminating stressors (when possible)
3. using physical exercise and other stress relieving methods like hypnosis, meditation, or diversions such as hobbies.
Guided meditations are one of the ways that a person can relax and relieve stress. One of the nice things about guided meditations is that they may be downloaded off the internet and also they may be tailored with suggestions that also help to control problem gambling as well as relaxing the person who is meditating and thereby relieving stress. The two pronged approach of relieving stress and also using hypnotic suggestions to control gambling can be very effective.
The reason they are so effective is that when you are deeply relaxed your subconscious mind is more accessible and open to suggestions. Your subconscious mind is where your emotions and behavior originate. You are driven by your emotions and stored or learned behavior. Gambling to relieve stress is a learned behavior. No one is born knowing that gambling will relieve the stress he or she experiences, but over time, problem gamblers learn to use gambling to control the stress in life. Unfortunately, for some people, the learned behavior spirals out of control.
So replacing gambling with a good guided meditation can help to relieve the desire to gamble. Guided meditations come in many varieties and styles.
For more information about controlling gambling problems with guided meditations, go to http://gamblingproblems.homestead.com
Wil Langford, R. Hy., is a 54 yr. old. Clinical Hypnotherapist, Integrated Energy Therapist, and teacher. He is the author of, “Your Loved Ones, Your Self; finding and Raising the Family Within.”
With hundreds of hours of clinical work, Wil is an expert on finding the keys to change unwanted behavior. His guided meditations for relaxation and habit control have helped many people to find happiness and change their lives for the better.
He is an expert on human consciousness and the author of Parts Consciousness Therapy. Will offers his guided meditations for gambling problems online and they may be listened to or downloaded at http://gamblingproblems.homestead.com for gambling problems relief. He may also be contacted by email there to answer questions free of charge.
The tree of gambling is growing and its roots expanding day by day. While few decades before the tree was deemed as a weed and left unattended, in recent years it has received immense attention and nourishment from different countries of the world. This is mainly because of two interrelated reasons- the alarming rate at which the gambling tree is bearing fruits in the form of revenue and the its unfailing involvement with people.
At present gambling is legal in several corners of the world. It is lately declared lawful in some of the Asian countries. As a result new resorts that are open to all are built at these places. For instance the city of Cambodia has come up with the Ho Wah Genting Poipet Casino Resort that bills itself as the Las Vegas of the East. The casino offes all the delightful games such as B6 Baccarat, Mini Baccarat, Blackjack, Casino War etc. In the Indian subcontinent there are six casinos in goa out of which 5 are slots-only establishments. The one full serving casino of this place is an off-shore casino on atwinn engine catamaran, Casino Goa. It is a lifetime experience to visit and play at this floating casino that offers a bar, a swimming pool and a great restaurant featuring a multi-cultural cuisine.
One such similar yet unique experience is at the casinos of hongkong. The reason being the construction of Hong Kong casinos on ships, either in port or as casino cruises. However it seems that water and casinos share a good liaison for the only casino in Laos, the Dan Sa Vanh is located along the Nam Ngum Lake. Besides gambling the other activities at the casino include boating and golf.
Gambling is made legal and so there are around 15 casinos owned and run by ht e government in Philippines. Out of these the Fontana Resort is not for the local people of this place but only for the foreigners.
If you are looking forward to delight in the beauty of snow capped mountains along with playing your favorite games such as Caribbean Stud Poker, Keno, Money Wheel, Pai Gow, Roulette, Blackjack etc., the Genting Highlands, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is just the ideal place to hit. Besides being an acclaimed tourist spot, the Genting Highlands, by virtue of these casinos are quite popular in the gaming world.
Lotteries and lottery related games are quite significant and greatly relished on the land of South Korea. South Koreans have an immense liking for lottery games. This can be well assessed from the fact that South Africans are the pioneers of online gambling, they had introduced in 2002. Along with it a new lottery game which is akin to financial winner, the Sports Toto is a gift to the gambling world by South Korea. But this place is not all about lotteries. There are other forms of gambling too such as horse racing and cycling.
Though legalization of gambling in various corners of the world is at a surge these days, yet gambling should be done within limits. Addiction of gambling is extremely fatal to the life of the gambler and his family.
Mansi aggarwal writes about oriental gambling [http://www.playasiangames.com].
With the worldwide recession happening, you would think that no city or business on earth is immune from its effects on us all. Big Companies like AIG, popular restaurants, and even the Gambling entertainment hotspots like Atlantic City, Las Vegas and even Monaco have felt the sting of this massive economic downtown. No matter where your business is, you are struggling to make ends meet unless you have an online gambling business. When online gambling first came about in the late 1990s it exploded on the scene with revenue charts in which the arrows were almost vertical.
Everybody was either gambling or opening up an online gambling site themselves. When the recession started to hit ,many people in the online gambling industry were fearful that it would hit online casinos hard because of the fact that gambling isn’t essential to living like food or homes were, but the projections coming in for 2008 has started to show a different story. What it has shown is that online gambling i is much more resilient then people previously thought it was.
A new study of online gambling revenue and expansion proves this to be true. This Study, which was done by well known gambling adviser Marco Felice Baranzelli shows that while land based gambling operations are forecasting an expansion rate of 2.2% yearly from 2007 to 2012, online casinos are showing an expansion rate of over 10% with online poker leading the way as it is showing a 16% year over year expansion rate followed by the online casino industry showing a 15% year over year increase while sports betting is lagging behind with a modest but still strong 11% increase.
So as you can see, while the whole world is being hit by this financial downturn, online gambling has shown its resiliency. All of this points to the fact that we should start seriously thinking about making online gambling legal in the United States in a way that the government can oversee and tax the revenues of online gaming establishments and the profits that players make, and use that money in a constructive way to help pay for the bailout that President Obama is proposing.
I am interested in writing gambling related articles about things such as Online poker rooms and Free Online Casinos.
Online gambling is a fun activity for those who love to lay bets on their skills with money. People who have a good time playing with high stakes can be assured that their experience will not be decreased with the online gambling option. Be reminded that although the game is dealt in a virtual atmosphere but the stakes are real. Players are required to purchase the chips using credit card or PayPal account before pursuing with the game. However there are several advantages if you choose to place your bets on the Internet gaming sites instead of real casinos.
First of all, the maximum amount of bets is established by the virtual casino owner and the players cannot place higher bets. The ground rule of the game is to abide the host’s rules and regulations upon signing the agreement before pursuing the game. This is definitely a plus point for those who are interested in saving money when they play. The main disadvantage of poker and blackjack is the risk of losing major sums of money. This risk is reduced by a thousand times when you place your bets on the Internet gaming casino because the stakes on the other end are usually low.
Secondly the player is able to identify his or her weakness in the game. The virtual casino is suitable for those who are interested in sharpening their skills in the game. The gamers are able to experience the techniques of playing betting games over the Internet with a cluster of other gaming communities all around the world. This platform will provide the gamers with the opportunity to learn from other people on how to improve their game. The new learners are also able to increase their knowledge on the various ways of winning a game without risking too much.
Author enjoys writing on wide range of topics such as Omega Tower Defence 2 and Penguin Copter. You may visit for more details.
Gambling is illegal in Japan, and thus the pachinko market operates within a grey area. Article 23 of the Entertainment and Amusement Trades Rationalisation Act specifically prohibits pachinko parlors from providing cash or marketable securities as merchandise or buying back goods that were offered to the customer. This includes steel balls and prizes.
The law is circumvented by winning players cashing in balls/tokens for prizes, which are often small plastic boxes, cards or nominal prizes of two sizes JPY1,000 and JPY2,500. These prizes are then exchanged for cash at a nearby exchange store. There is an exchange store for every pachinko parlour. Many retired police officers, called ‘old boys’, operate these exchange stores.
The third shop is that of the wholesalers, who are much fewer and cover a number of parlors and exchange stores. Wholesalers act as intermediaries between pachinko parlors and exchange stores.
Because of pachinko’s grey status the government has not implemented a gaming tax on the amounts wagered. Gaming taxes in other regions range between 15-39% and represent a significant share of total tax revenue.
The police take an active role in the pachinko industry, and curb issues such as children being locked inside cars while parents are playing pachinko, and rising consumer lending to fund pachinko players. The current status is that police seek to retain control of the sector rather than have it fall under the jurisdiction of another government department. Currently pachinko parlors are prohibited from listing on the capital markets, but if this changes it is expected that the police would no longer retain control.
The government has been concerned by the rise in popularity of pachislot, which has a greater gaming element, and the reduction in number of casual use players. The overall affect is that the pachinko/pachislot industry has become associated with more serious gambling. This has led to new pachinko machines regulation.
Doyle Swain Jnr. likes looking at the pachinko industry as an example of gambling in Japan. http://hubpages.com/hub/Pachinko-Machine
