Medically reviewed:06/22/2018
Last updated: 05/15/2019
Author: Addictions.com Medical Review

1. What Is A Moral Issue
2. Is Gambling A Moral Issue
3. Moral Issues In Today's Society
4. Current Moral Issues
5. Why Is Gambling A Moral Issue
6. Moral Issues Today

We turn now to gambling, a moral issue confronting Christians due to: a. The proliferation of government sanctioned gambling (e.g., state lotteries) b. Addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavior problem involving alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, experts contend in a new definition of addiction, one that is not solely related.

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What is Gambling Addiction?

Gambling addiction or gambling disorder is defined as persistent and recurring problematic gambling behavior that causes distress and impairs your overall livelihood. Gambling addiction affects roughly 0.2% to 0.3% of the general U.S. population, and tends to affects males more than females, though this gender gap has narrowed in recent years. Gambling disorder is a behavioral addiction that can be effectively treated using a range of cognitive and behavioral therapies.

Table of Contents

The desire to buy scratch tickets, play slot machines, and visit casinos aren’t necessarily signs of gambling addiction. But when the desire to gamble becomes overwhelming to the point you can’t stop thinking about it until you gamble on something, may be a sign you need help. Those who suffer from gambling addiction will continue to gamble despite negative financial, legal, and social consequences.

Gambling disorder is a brain disease that can cause you to do things you wouldn’t normally do if you weren’t suffering from addiction. Behavioral addictions like gambling disorder are often difficult to manage and control without getting professional help. Addiction treatment centers can help you overcome gambling addiction and teach you important skills aimed at helping you repair problems in your life caused by your disorder.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Gambling Addiction?

There are no physical health symptoms associated with gambling disorder. Familiarizing yourself with common gambling addiction behaviors can clue you into whether you or a loved one may need professional help.

Chasing after losses is the most common tell-tale sign of gambling disorder. This particular symptom is marked by the urgent need to continue gambling to earn back a loss or series of losses. Individuals diagnosed with gambling disorder may abandon their usual gambling strategies to win back all losses at once and may lie to family, friends, and therapists to hide the severity of their addiction.

The following behaviors are potential signs of gambling addiction:

• Needing to gamble using increasing amounts of money to achieve the desired rush and excitement.
• Feeling restless or irritable when trying to reduce or stop gambling.
• Inability to control, reduce, or quit gambling despite numerous repeated attempts.
• Preoccupation with gambling, such as devising ways to get more gambling money and reliving past gambling experiences.
• Gambling when experiencing feelings of distress, helplessness, guilt, anxiety, and depression.
• Chasing after your losses to get even after losing money gambling.
• Lying to conceal the severity of gambling behaviors, and the addiction.
• Loss of personal relationships, job, and educational pursuits due to gambling.
• Replying on others to provide money to resolve financial situations caused by gambling, such as a threat of eviction from the home.

Those with a mild gambling addiction may exhibit between four and five of these behaviors, while those with a moderately severe gambling addiction may exhibit six to seven of these behaviors. People who suffer from severe gambling addiction will usually exhibit all nine behaviors. Moderate to severe cases of gambling disorder tend to be more common than mild cases.

You might have a gambling problem if:

• You feel compelled to keep gambling until you’ve spent your last dollar. You may keep bidding until you’ve spent everything to win your money back, or you continue increasing bet amounts.
• You hide your gambling from friends or family members. You may sneak off to gamble without telling anyone, or lie about your gambling activities.
• You spend money you don’t have on gambling. You may use money intended for important bills like rent, mortgage, car payments, credit card bills, and other expenses for gambling.
• You steal from others or sell your possessions so you can gamble. You may steal money or belongings from others so you can gamble, or sell or pawn valuable possessions like musical instruments and vehicles to obtain more gambling money.
• You prioritize gambling over obligations related to work, school, family. You may stop going to work or school so you can gamble, or stop buying household necessities so you can use the money for gambling instead.
• You’re experiencing financial hardships due to gambling. You may have lost your home, car, job, and important personal possessions due to gambling.
• You’re facing a range of negative emotions triggered by gambling. Gambling may be a serious problem in your life if it’s triggering depression, anxiety, frustration, agitation, and remorse.
• You want to stop gambling but can’t. You have tried to stop gambling but can’t seem to stop despite your desire to do better and to stop gambling.

Negative Effects of Gambling Addiction

Gambling addiction can produce many more negative effects than just financial hardship. Gambling disorder can affect your physical health, mental health, and social functioning, and lead to the loss of important relationships with friends and loved ones. You may also suffer a decline in work or school performance, and feel more restless and bored with all other areas of life that don’t involve gambling.

Those who suffer from gambling addiction tend to suffer from higher rates of poor general health than those who don’t gamble. Tachycardia and angina are common health problems among those diagnosed with gambling addiction. Many who suffer from gambling disorder also tend to experience distortions in thinking surrounding their addiction, such as superstitions, overconfidence, and a sense of power over the outcome of chance events. Nearly 50% of those receiving treatment for gambling disorder experience suicidal ideation, while an estimated 17% have tried to commit suicide.

What Is A Moral Issue

The negative effects of problem gambling include:

• Financial problems including high debt, poverty, or bankruptcy
• Domestic violence and child abuse in families
• Suicidal thoughts, attempts, or the act of suicide
• Legal troubles, including arrests for theft or prostitution
• Behavior problems in children of problem gamblers
• Depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders
• Loss of relationships with friends and family
• A decline in performance at work or school
• Suicide and death
• A risk for drug or alcohol abuse

How Does Gambling Addiction Interact with Addiction?

Alcohol and cocaine are the two most common substances associated with gambling and binge gambling, respectively. Alcohol is legally available in most gambling settings such as bars and casinos and is often rewarded to gamblers for free at many of these establishments. Roughly 44% of people with gambling disorder in the U.S. also suffer from an alcohol use disorder.

Binge gambling is defined as intermittent episodes of uncontrolled gambling after long periods of abstinence. For instance, a person who practices binge gambling may only visit the casino five times per year but gamble non-stop for long periods during their stay. Cocaine use tends to be common among these gamblers since it produces stimulating effects of increased energy, alertness, focus, concentration, and confidence.

Individuals with gambling disorders tend to suffer higher rates of co-occurring alcohol and drug use disorders compared to their peers. Gambling often takes place in environments that enable and encourage alcohol and drug use. Gambling can also trigger mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, which many may self-treat using alcohol and drugs like marijuana, painkillers, and other addictive substances.

How Are Gambling Addiction and Substance Use Treated?

Gambling addiction is commonly treated using cognitive and behavioral therapies that treat the root psychological causes of your addiction. These therapies also help you identify and change negative, unhealthy thoughts and behaviors that may have led to your gambling addiction. Treatments for gambling addiction can be tailored especially for you or your loved one based on the factors surrounding your disorder.

Gambling addiction can also be treated using community reinforcement, group therapy, and 12-step support groups like Gamblers Anonymous. These treatments help you identify your triggers that can lead to gambling and teach you ways to overcome and manage those triggers. For instance, if a stressful day at work usually makes you feel like gambling, you may learn yoga, deep breathing, or other healthy methods that relieve stress without putting your health and well-being at risk.

Gambling Addiction Help

If you or someone you love needs treatment for gambling addiction, it’s important that you use a treatment approach that best suits your recovery needs. Gambling addiction treatment is available in many different settings, including inpatient and outpatient treatment settings.

Inpatient gambling addiction treatment can greatly benefit those who suffer from severe gambling disorder, and who have suffered severe financial, legal, or social problems. Inpatient treatment includes around-the-clock supervision in a hospital-like setting where you can live for the duration of your treatment program. The intense level of therapy, counseling, and supervision provided by inpatient treatment centers can help significantly reduce the risk of relapse while in recovery.

Compulsive gamblers often need support from friends, family members, and peers to help them stop gambling. Gamblers Anonymous groups can provide peer and social support for those in recovery or for those who wish they can stop gambling. These groups can provide a solid, healthy foundation for a successful and long-term recovery from gambling addiction.

Overall10Story10Animation10Sound9Character10Enjoyment10Story 10/10The story follows Black Jack tackling many cases. Black jack ova episode list. Each episode follows a different case.So, unlike the Black Jack TV show that came out in the 2000s, this 'Black Jack' series is much darker.

Here’s how to help a family member or loved one suffering from a gambling addiction:

• Understand the addiction. The first thing you can do to help a loved one who is addicted to gambling is to learn all you can about the addiction. Find a support group that can help you cope with the stress that comes from having a loved one who is addicted to gambling.
• Find support. Support for yourself and for your loved one who is addicted can be very beneficial in helping with a gambling addiction. Many support groups are available throughout communities and in treatment centers. Therapists and counselors can also provide support for gambling addiction.
• Manage money tightly. If your loved one is addicted to gambling and is actively pursuing help, take over managing all financial responsibilities for your loved one. This can help reduce any gambling impulses your loved one may be experiencing throughout their recovery.

Is Gambling A Moral Issue

Looking at the ethical view of gambling through the eyes of Utilitarianism and Deontology perspectives we will find 2 very different views with the same outcome. Should there be any restriction of gambling? Is it a form of freedom, or an invitation to addiction?

George Washington said: “Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.” Benjamin Franklin advised: “Keep flax from fire, and youth from gaming.” There is all kinds of gambling these days, there is internet gaming, sports wagers, casinos, animal fighting , and many other ways , we can even gamble in the stock market.

How to get more pet slots subeta. It's a way to tally the pet slots for those who used (legacy) mystical plushies. Otherwise for the majority of users, when you buy the first 10 pet slots directly using CSC, it fills these 10 slots up first, then moves on the now available 30 new slot additions. Oh and I want to add: I don't feel like subeta has gotten more money oriented. Pet slots used to be way more and they used to sell as well. We used to have loads of luck based things, where you could spend 15$ just to get 1 item and end up with 10 you didn't want. Someday when I have money to spare, I will buy so many pet slots. And then I'll be broke again, but it'll be worth it. In the mean time, I'm just saving up for the remainder of those MC pet slots that I can get. C: You guys are generous with pet slots and I really appreciate that. Oh, he's awesome! Love the revamp, esp the belly/chest fluff. Thank you for more pet slots! One every now and then is great! These are expensive but not as bad as the MC in my opinion. If they were all the same price and didn't upscale it would be ok, but I hate that crap and I. I don't know what the pet limit was to begin with but correct me if I'm wrong here, does this mean we're able to buy an additional 5 pet slots meain with the current limit we can add 5 more, or do we get a total of 10 free /before/ the GA with a total of 10 free slots before buying more slots? I'm confused by this.:x.

Utilitarianism suggest that we do what’s right for the most people involved. As I think about that statement the only entity that gambling really helps is the corporation that is presenting the gambling opportunity itself. Money that could be invested, loaned, and recycled through the economy is instead risked in a legalized gambling scheme. Legalized gambling siphons off a lot of money from the economy.

More money is wagered on gambling than is spent on elementary and secondary education ($286 billion versus $213 billion in 1990). Historian John Ezel concludes in his book, Fortune’s Merry Wheel, “If history teaches us anything, a study of over 1300 legal lotteries held in the United States proves…they cost more than they brought in if their total impact on society is reckoned.”

What is better for the good of society would be to stop gambling all together because only a handful of people may win enough to actually help them in anyway at all. Sports gambling has affected sports by introducing organized crime into the sporting arena. Past scandals at Boston College or Tulane illustrate how gambling has adversely affected the integrity of athletes, coaches, and colleges. Players have been involved in point-shaving scandals and the problem could only become worse in an environment where sports gambling is legalized.

The solution in the Utilitarianism perspective would be to not allow gambling because it hurts more cities and people than it helps. Psychologist Julian Taber warns, “No one knows the social costs of gambling or how many players will become addicted…the states are experimenting with the minds of the people on a massive scale.”(7) Families are torn apart by strife, divorce, and bankruptcy. Boydon Cole and Sidney Margolius in their book, When You Gamble–You Risk

More Than Your Money, conclude: “There is no doubt of the destructive effect of gambling on the family life. The corrosive effects of gambling attack both the white-collar and blue-collar families with equal vigor.”

Looking at the Deontology perspective we will try to look at the reasons behind gambling. Although gambling has a clear financial effect, it is fundamentally an emotional issue (KalebKaleigh, May 2011).

The behaviors of an addicted gambler can be similar or the same as a drug addict or alcoholic. A 1994 study out of the University of Illinois that indicated the social problems created by gambling, (e.g., gambling addiction, domestic abuse, suicide, crime, indebtedness, etc.) outweigh by far any benefits to the community. In fact, the gambling enterprise costs “taxpayers $3 for every $1 of state revenue collected.” If gambling hurts more than it helps, the denontology perspective would look at why.

Compulsive gamblers find ways to deal with increasing monetary loses without curbing the gambling habit. For instance, going into retirement savings to try their chance at the “big win.” On the other hand, if the gambler becomes increasingly irritable, taking over finances, and spending more time away from home without an explanation, suspect something is wrong (Stannard,2010). The mentality that you can get something for nothing is very addictive.

Moral Issues In Today's Society

When I was a bingo caller we would call a new player a virgin because they did not have the feeling of winning yet but after they won and realized how easy it was and how fun the feeling is when you win, they were instantly addicted. They would be there every night looking for that feeling again, even if they didn’t win for 30 days after. People like getting a lot for a little and the excitement of winning is very addictive.

American society has deemed gambling an activity that is victimless and therefore the right to gamble has been upheld. Gambling disorders are broadly defined as persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling that disrupts personal, family, or vocational pursuits (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

If drugs are illegal because of what they do to individuals and families then why shouldn’t gambling be illegal too? The social and economic cost associated with gambling is enormous. Pathological gamblers may develop general medical conditions associated with stress, and there is elevated risk of suicide (Petry, 2005). Pathological gamblers also are reported to have incresed rates of mood disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and substance use disorders (Crockford & el-Guebaly, 1998).

When looking at this through a Deontologist perspective we have to look at the reasons of gambling addiction. The explanation of loss of control of gambling behavior (so-called pathological gambling) presents a considerable challenge for general theories of addiction for two main reasons. First, unlike many other addictions, gambling does not involve the ingestion of substances that alter psychopharmacological states. Second, like many other addictive activities, the majority of the population participates to some degree (Walker 1992b).

Decision making disorders could play a huge role in a gambling addiction. The addict will have problems deciding when to gamble and how much they should gamble. It has been argued (Evans & Coventry 2006) that the explanation of gambling behavior should be seen in the context of two different types of decision making – implicit and explicit systems. The importance of implicit (unconscious) processes in relation to human decision-making and reasoning has been demonstrated across a wide range of decision-making and reasoning tasks (Evans 2003).

Not matter what the reason is for a gambling addiction, gambling can ruin a person and those around them. Gambling causes crime and families being torn apart. No matter which way you look at gambling either through a Deontologist perspective or Utilitarianism perspective, the outcome is the same. When there is gambling introduced to society, there will also be crime and addiction.

References

A. Bechara, H. Damasio, D. Tranel & A. R. Damasio (1997) Gambling and decisionmaking: A dual process perspective. Science 275:1293-95. Coventry, Kenny R A dual process perspective Coventry, Kenny R. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 31.4 (Aug 2008): 444-445

J. St. B. T. Evans (2003) Gambling and decision-making: A dual process perspective. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7:454-459.
R. W. Wiers & A. W. Stacy, eds (2006b) Gambling and decision-making: A dual process perspective. Current Directions in Psychological Science 15: 292-96. McKenna, David. 1973. Gambling: Parasite on Public Morals. Christianity Today, June 8. Charles T. Clotfelter and Philip J. Cook, Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991), 123-127.

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Downs, C, & Woolrych, R (2010). Gambling and debt: The hidden impacts on family and work life. Community, Work & Family, 13(3), 311–328
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Franklin, J, & Thoms, DR In Shaffer H (Ed.) (1989). Clinical observations of family members of compulsive gamblers. Compulsive gambling: Theory, research and practice (pp. 135–146).

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Current Moral Issues

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