The recent rollout of legalized sports betting across 36 states has surged the gambling industry — but experts say it’s coming at the fee of mental health in young men.
Particularly, quick access to online betting, hottest with sportsbooks — which frequently incentivize latest customers with credits and first-bet loss forgiveness as a lure — has a grasp on the Gen Z crowd.
A 2023 prevalence report of gambling in Latest Jersey from Rutgers University found that a 3rd of bettors 18 to 24 exclusively wagered online moderately than being inside a casino or in-person facility.
That statistic is five times higher than a previous 2017 report for the college and greater than every other age group.
“You may be gambling away your own home in your cell phone sitting on the dinner table, and never a single person will know until the devastation of your whole family is complete,” Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University School of Social Work, recently told Newsweek.
“The more people gamble, the more activities they gamble on, and the younger they begin, the more likely they’re to develop problems with not only gambling itself but additionally mental health problems like depression, anxiety and suicidality,” Nower added.
Younger men aged 18 to 44 were also “more than likely to be high-risk problem gamblers,” in line with the report, which noted that 19% of the 18 to 24 group were at a high risk for problem gambling.
Players aged 18 to twenty years old “are significantly more likely” to chase their losses and bet beyond their affordability, in line with Responsiblegambling.org.
Now, the potential for devastation could possibly be immediately felt.
This Latest Yr’s Day, the College Football Playoff games between the Universities of Alabama and Michigan within the Rose Bowl and the Universities of Texas and Washington within the Sugar Bowl are on pace to set a sports gambling record, the Associated Press reported.
“The quantity level goes to be cranked up probably like we’ve never seen it before,” Jay Kornegay, sportsbook director for Westgate’s Las Vegas resort, told the outlet.
But what’s it about gambling that has such a hold on people, especially young men?
“The strongest component of the addiction of smoking, drugs or alcohol — not the just one, however the strongest one — is debatably dopamine,” psychologist James Whelan, director of The Institute for Gambling Education and Research on the University of Memphis, told Newsweek.
“And if you gamble, your brain secretes more dopamine than if you do any of those other things.”
Pamela Brenner-Davis, team leader of the Latest York Council on Problem Gambling, says the under-25 population is “predisposed to addiction, particularly to gambling addiction” because their brains are usually not fully developed.
Nower also expressed worries that the “rush” to legalization will result in much more mental health issues amongst bettors. The signs of dangerous gambling addictions will present themselves rather more subtly than those of drinking or smoking disorders, she warned.
“Gambling addiction has no tell.”
The recent rollout of legalized sports betting across 36 states has surged the gambling industry — but experts say it’s coming at the fee of mental health in young men.
Particularly, quick access to online betting, hottest with sportsbooks — which frequently incentivize latest customers with credits and first-bet loss forgiveness as a lure — has a grasp on the Gen Z crowd.
A 2023 prevalence report of gambling in Latest Jersey from Rutgers University found that a 3rd of bettors 18 to 24 exclusively wagered online moderately than being inside a casino or in-person facility.
That statistic is five times higher than a previous 2017 report for the college and greater than every other age group.
“You may be gambling away your own home in your cell phone sitting on the dinner table, and never a single person will know until the devastation of your whole family is complete,” Lia Nower, director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University School of Social Work, recently told Newsweek.
“The more people gamble, the more activities they gamble on, and the younger they begin, the more likely they’re to develop problems with not only gambling itself but additionally mental health problems like depression, anxiety and suicidality,” Nower added.
Younger men aged 18 to 44 were also “more than likely to be high-risk problem gamblers,” in line with the report, which noted that 19% of the 18 to 24 group were at a high risk for problem gambling.
Players aged 18 to twenty years old “are significantly more likely” to chase their losses and bet beyond their affordability, in line with Responsiblegambling.org.
Now, the potential for devastation could possibly be immediately felt.
This Latest Yr’s Day, the College Football Playoff games between the Universities of Alabama and Michigan within the Rose Bowl and the Universities of Texas and Washington within the Sugar Bowl are on pace to set a sports gambling record, the Associated Press reported.
“The quantity level goes to be cranked up probably like we’ve never seen it before,” Jay Kornegay, sportsbook director for Westgate’s Las Vegas resort, told the outlet.
But what’s it about gambling that has such a hold on people, especially young men?
“The strongest component of the addiction of smoking, drugs or alcohol — not the just one, however the strongest one — is debatably dopamine,” psychologist James Whelan, director of The Institute for Gambling Education and Research on the University of Memphis, told Newsweek.
“And if you gamble, your brain secretes more dopamine than if you do any of those other things.”
Pamela Brenner-Davis, team leader of the Latest York Council on Problem Gambling, says the under-25 population is “predisposed to addiction, particularly to gambling addiction” because their brains are usually not fully developed.
Nower also expressed worries that the “rush” to legalization will result in much more mental health issues amongst bettors. The signs of dangerous gambling addictions will present themselves rather more subtly than those of drinking or smoking disorders, she warned.
“Gambling addiction has no tell.”
