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As the 2022 World Cup, which is due to take place in Qatar next month, approaches, Public Health France is warning of the risks associated with the practice of sports betting and their consequences on health. For this, she is launching a campaign entitled, “Betting is not nothing” until November 22.
Online betting is popular with young people. However, they are not without risk to health. Out of 100 sports bettors, fifteen risk falling into a problematic practice. And as with other addictions, the younger the practice begins, the higher the risk, as psychiatrist Lucie Joly explains in this article. A real problem when you know that “72% of players are between 18 and 35 years old and are more often of modest means and unemployed“says Public Health France.
Known risks
Indeed, gambling, whatever its nature, often has consequences for the individuals who indulge in it: stress, over-indebtedness, loss of social ties, family problems… Risks often known to gamblers.
We note, however, that among sports bettors, there is a greater tendency to distance themselves from these problems, “since they tend to view betting less as a game of chance than of skill (illusion of expertise)“says the agency.
The consequences of sports betting
Anxiety, isolation and sometimes suicide: in reality, gambling also weighs heavily on the health of players. Some studies mention the risk of even more serious health problems in pathological gamblers.
In effect, “the risk of mood disorder would be multiplied by 4.4 and that of a manic episode by 8.8 among the latter“SPF rating.
No more toxic intakes
These disorders are also reinforced by taking toxic substances, which is more common among addicted players, again according to SPF. “Smoking, alcohol use or abuse, drug dependence are more common among pathological gamblers. Another aspect, still too often neglected: the psychological consequences on those around you. They are less often mentioned but “represent a large part (90%) of the social costs associated with gambling“.
An awareness campaign
However, gambling is everywhere, whether on social networks, advertisements, sites or applications intended for players.
The objective of this Public Health France campaign is therefore to raise awareness of the risks of sports betting, and to deconstruct received ideas about sports betting with a debate program in audio format during which Mohamed Bouhafsi, journalist and columnist, and Laurent Karila, addictologist are interviewed by the actor Fred Testot.
A way to denounce the spiral in which the player can be sucked. In effect, “the switch to problem gambling often begins with a gain, then a loss, the hope of recovering and the escalation towards increasingly significant financial losses resulting in a situation of over-indebtedness, family conflicts, psychological and social difficulties“.
A site to help players
To help victims of gambling and those around them, a website called Players Info Service exist. Aimed at the general public, it offers personalized help and listening, specialized information and also a directory of competent structures in the management of pathological gambling.
So you can:
- Join the telephone line at 09.74.75.13.13 every day from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., an anonymous, non-surcharged line, for top-notch advice;
- Go to the website to get answers to questions that players and their loved ones ask themselves: How can I limit my gambling? How do I deal with my money problems?
In 2021, the site was able to respond to 3,635 requests for help, the vast majority of which came from users and nearly half of which related to sports betting.