Gambling As Stress Release

Throughout the world, many people gamble in order to relieve stress. The phenomenon is slightly different in e very country. For example, the Australian Psychology Society conducted the Stress and Well Being in Australia Survey in 2015. The survey targeted those who admit to gambling as a form of stress relief.

The survey found that the rate of Australians gambling to relieve stress rose 6% between 2011 and 2015. In many cases, survey participants admitted that they were gambling in order to deal with their financial struggles. However, according to the Executive Director of the Australian Psychology Society, people gamble in order to distract themselves from their financial and other problems, as opposed to solving them.

Other results of the survey conducted shows that the anxiety many Australians feel is the highest it has been since 2011. It also determined that the well- being of those who participated in the survey has remained the same.

Not everyone who gambles to relieve stress makes their problems worse. In 2009 a study was conducted at Montreal, Quebec’s McGill that proved online gambling can have health benefits. Playing online casino games has proven to drop the levels of cortisol in people by 17%.

Online casinos have done their own research into gambling as stress relief. In one survey, 75% of participants admitted that playing Blackjack online helps to relieve stress. The other 25% participants sited that the reason they didn’t find it to be effective stress relief is that they were playing high stakes games. Roulette players were also surveyed by an online casino and the survey determined that 77% of them played Roulette online to relieve their stress.

Research conducted by those who work in the field of Psychiatrics has determined that men who are stressed out are more likely to turn to gambling as stress relief than women. An experiment conducted with both men and women tested how they responded in a situation where they are taking a financial risk.

Participants were instructed to play the Balloon Analog Risk Task. In this risky game participants were divided into a control group and a stress group and had to blow up a balloon using a pump. They won five cents for every time they used the pump without popping the balloon. However, each participant was faced with the dilemma of when to stop pumping. Participants were permitted to cash out their winnings whenever they chose to during the course of the game. If they popped the balloon they would have to give up the money they won.

At the end of the task it was determined that both male and female participants in the control group pumped air into their balloons roughly 40 times, meaning that the men and women took approximately the same risk. However, in the stressed group, the women inflated the balloons 30% less than the men.

These studies and surveys are helping industry professionals learn more about the effects of gambling on relieving stress.