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6 - Pathological Gambling: Promoting Risk, Provoking Ruin

from Section I - Acquisitive Impulses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2010

Elias Aboujaoude
Affiliation:
Stanford University School of Medicine, California
Lorrin M. Koran
Affiliation:
Stanford University School of Medicine, California
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Summary

The majority of people who participate in gambling, view it as a social activity that does not negatively impact their lives, and, win or lose, they walk away unaffected. Numerous costs of pathological gambling cannot be quantified, such as the emotional pain associated with bankruptcy, divorce, neglect, and related difficulties experienced by gamblers and others in their lives. A national study established that problem and pathological gamblers were more than four times as likely as low-risk gamblers to have lost a job and more than three times as likely to have been fired within the past year. When a pathological gambler or loved one becomes hopeless and believes there is no way out, suicide is often considered. Federal, state, and local governments promote gambling while simultaneously providing oversight and enforcement responsibilities. The film industry glamorizes gambling and normalizes gambling behaviors across age groups.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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