Gambling involves betting on a game involving chance, such as a football match or a scratchcard. The odds are usually set by the betting company, and if you get the right choice you win. If you don’t, you lose the money you put in.
If you think you might have a problem with gambling, talk to your doctor or health professional. Counselling can help you understand why you gamble and how it affects you and your family. It can also teach you ways to stop.
Identifying harms
The first harms were a broad range of adverse consequences associated with gambling that were experienced by people who gambled, their family members and affected others. The data identified six thematic classifications: financial harms, those relating to relationships, emotional or psychological harms, impacts on the person’s health, impacts on work, study or economic activity and criminal acts.
Crisis harms were a further dimension of harms that emerged from the data. These were linked to a threshold or crisis in a person’s behaviour, and often represented a change in the way that they gambled. This might be a temporary response to the impact of gambling, or a long term attempt to reduce, control or abstain from their gambling behaviours.
Gambling is a very common activity that can be fun and exciting, but can also lead to serious problems. The best way to avoid the problems and harmful effects of gambling is to limit the amount you gamble and never chase your losses.