Online Gambling Addiction

The UK is, belatedly, awakening to the severity of its online gambling problem. Each year in the UK thousands of people with problem and addiction gamblers take their lives, driven passionately to that final tragic step, driven by a mixture of embarrassment, guilt and crippling financial implications. Some of these people have been family members who have been mired in non gamstop sports betting the problems of addiction and Gamblers Anonymous meetings have not been able to break the cycle of command. It is these people that the government is now attempting to address through the introduction of UK online casinos and the Regulation of Gambling Commission which will regulate and standardise online gambling in the UK.

The main thrust of these reforms is the necessity for online gambling addiction treatment centres. It is estimated that more than one million UK residents suffer from a form of online gambling addiction or some other related problem. There are many reasons why compulsive gamblers develop an addiction to online gambling. These include stress, peer pressure, the thrill of competition, the relaxation provided by being part of a larger group and finally the monetary rewards which can provide real gratification. If any of these three needs a physical outlet, then this source is easily accessible. It is not difficult to get hold of a casino, visit a specialist gambling site or even book into one of the new state-of-the-art online gambling casinos to satisfy our online gambling cravings.

As part of the reform measures the Gambling Commission has taken steps to make online gambling addiction a far more dangerous thing to be a part of, through the inclusion of strict criteria in regards to online gambling websites and the offering of regulated gambling products such as software and access cards. This is important as online gambling should be seen as a form of entertainment and not a real danger to our society and its children. We have to remember that there are countless millions of people out there enjoying their lives and trying to earn a living in almost every walk of life. In order to protect them we need to treat online gambling addiction as a serious issue and start to address it accordingly.