As exciting as online casino gambling can get – it’s always important for players to show some restraint when playing online casino games. Gambling addiction is a phenomenon that occurs when a person cannot control their urge to gamble, despite the fact that they’re fully aware that they may ruin their lives while playing gambling games uncontrollably. It’s a serious problem that endangers not only individuals, but entire societies, as well. This is why we’ve created a comparative study of types of gambling addiction interventions in different countries – to learn more, keep reading.
Understanding Gambling Addiction
Gambling addiction, also known as gambling disorder, is a complex issue. If a person is a addicted to gambling, it means that they will continue to gamble despite it causing significant financial and interpersonal problems. There are several symptoms that can be exhibited by a person with gambling addiction:
- Irritability when trying to decrease or stop gambling
- Steadily increasing the amount of money to gamble with to achieve excitement
- Chasing the losses after a losing streak
- Lying to people about gambling habits
- Gambling when feeling down or distressed
The bigger the number of symptoms a person exhibits, the higher the likelihood that they are suffering from gambling addiction. There are many potential causes of gambling addiction, such as the way a person is raised, including their day-to-day surroundings and other people’s influence – and even the person’s genetic profile, as there are both psychological and societal factors that contribute to the development of this disorder.
Global Scope of Gambling Addiction
With more than 80% of countries worldwide now having legalized traditional casino or online casinos gambling, it becomes obvious that gambling addiction has also followed suit and spread worldwide. After all, new customers get immediate access to a huge selection of popular online casino games and they can easily have the best online casino experience. Since gambling becomes ever more accessible to people worldwide and especially with the advent of online casino games, the probability of people experiencing gambling addiction also rises.
In fact, statistics show that over 10 million adults have sought help for gambling addiction, or 1 in every 400 adults. This amounts to around 0.23% of the general adult population. There are some discrepancies regarding the prevalence of problem gambling between different countries and continents, stemming from availability of traditional and online casinos and the general opinion on gambling itself. This makes gambling addiction a worldwide problem, which means that countries’ authorities should invest resources into curtailing gambling addiction and helping people that suffer from it.
Intervention Strategies in Europe
European countries have been known to implement innovative strategies when dealing with problem gambling. For example, in Norway, there’s a remote intervention program for gambling addiction. The reasoning behind this is that despite the distress that problem gambling is known to cause to people, many of them don’t opt to get face-to-face treatment. This intervention strategy makes it easier for gamblers to get treatment and, as a strategy, it has shown some promise and success.
In Austria, the Gambling Act (GSpG) was enacted and, with it, a special Staff Unit was created with the goal of preventing gambling addiction and helping people recover from it, with the following objectives:
- Supporting problem gambling research-related activities
- Educating people about the risks of gambling
- Assessment of various gambling protection concepts
- Coordinating the work of gambling protection facilities
This means that players at Austrian online casinos can always seek and get treatment for problem gambling. Additionally, in Austria, there are portals like austriawin24.at that help prevent gambling problems before they become an addiction.
The case is similar in neighboring countries Germany and Switzerland, as well as in the UK, where there are mandatory spending limits on the first deposit and consecutive deposits, public awareness campaigns, as well as self-exclusion programs, which have been proven to be successful strategies in curtailing problem gambling.
Approaches in North America
In North America – in countries like Canada and the United States – problem gambling strategies differ somewhat as compared to their European counterparts. Here, more resources are put into state-funded treatment programs where people that experience problem gambling can get treated for free, making treatment much more accessible to vulnerable categories of problem gamblers.
There are also 24/7, toll-free hotlines that gamblers can call at any time to get advice on how to play responsibly during online gaming and to get help with problem gambling. Gamblers will also get information about gambling addiction treatments that they can get into.
Lastly, there are educational initiatives, as well, which serve to enhance the public’s knowledge and awareness regarding the potential problems that may arise during online gaming, as well as urging players to play responsibly for a risk-free playing experience.
With this in mind, both American and European strategies have proven to be successful in treating problem gambling, albeit there’s still lots of room for improvement.
Asian Perspectives on Online Casino Gambling Addiction
Of course, there are problem-gambling measures implemented in Asian countries, as well. Asian countries are known to be on the stricter side when it comes to gambling regulation, making people somewhat less susceptible to the malady of problem gambling. Although cultural attitudes towards casino online gambling vary between countries, the consensus is that there’s a more conservative approach when it comes to the acceptance of gambling.
But this doesn’t mean that problem gambling doesn’t exist in Asia. Players can still play online casino games and potentially get addicted. This is why there are rehabilitation centers in many countries in Asia. These centers take people in and help them deal with gambling addiction. There are also many other measures and resources that players can use to curb their addiction to online games and gambling, making the Asian countries’ approach to the problem similar to the European and North-American approaches.
Success Stories and Challenges
Fortunately, there are many success stories when it comes to dealing with problem gambling worldwide. Many individuals have faced the deep end of gambling addiction and they were still able to pull through and return to having a normal life. It’s very easy to find many examples of success stories online, which may give you an inspiration to quit gambling yourself. On the GamCare forum, you can find dozens of stories from people who have overcome this affliction and are motivating others who are suffering.
That being said, there are still many challenges when it comes to helping people with gambling addiction, such as societal stigmas for people that seek gambling help, funding issues for government programs that help stave off gambling addiction, or even legal hurdles that make it more difficult for affected people to get treatment.
Emerging Trends and Future Directions
There are exciting new trends and future directions when it comes to providing problem gambling therapy worldwide. For starters, there’s the advent of online therapy, where players can get treatment and help right from home, making the treatment of gambling addiction much more accessible and effective.
There are mobile apps that can help people with managing gambling addiction – with helpful advice and even restrictions when a player has used the allotted time for gambling. Also, countries worldwide are increasing their collaborative efforts when it comes to dealing with problem gambling and gambling addiction management, exchanging experiences and strategies in the process. This makes it a lot easier for people that are addicted to gambling to get effective treatment.
Dealing with Online Casino Problem Gambling – Conclusion
Different counties are known to implement different strategies when it comes to combating gambling addiction. However, the goal is the same – to provide players with easy access to treatment for gambling addiction. New approaches to dealing with problem gambling always emerge and they are showing promise as being effective in many cases. This way, all gamblers will be armed with proper resources to help battle gambling addiction in any shape or form when playing casino games.
