Don't be a Statistic

Gambling addiction has been shown to be linked to depression, divorce and suicide. I say “linked to” rather than “the cause of” because there is always a difficulty in determining causal relationships. Does one gamble because one is depressed? Is one depressed because one gambles? All I can say is that there is a link. According David Phillips, a sociology professor at the University of California at San Diego, the suicide rate in Las Vegas is 60% higher than in an average American city of the same size. Las Vegas, in his words, has the highest suicide rate in the United States. Suicide rates in Atlantic City are 42% higher in the years after gambling was legalized there than they were when gambling was illegal.(1)

This is, of course, not the kind of thing that the tourist board likes to talk about. They like to show pictures of people having a good time. In fact the gambling industry funded another study by the University of California, Irvine that -surprise!- shows no appreciable difference in the suicide rates of Las Vegas and other American cities(2)

Before you sit down to play any game of chance, including poker, you have to know the odds. Now not every gambling addict plays poker, and not every poker player is a gambling addict, but I think there is a slippery slope to be conscious of.

Being deeply in debt is a major contributing factor to suicide. A 2002 joint study by the University of Hong Kong and Melbourne University focused on the causes of financial debt of those who committed suicide in the city of Hong Kong, and found that gambling was the leading cause. The following chart was taken from the study:

Table 1
Main Causes of Debt Associated With Suicides

Causes of debt
Gambling 33.8 %
Business difficulties/Failed business 11.4 %
Overconsumption of goods and services 7.6 %
Residential rent 7.2 %
Investment losses 5.5 %
Overcommitted mortgage 4.1 %
Buying illegal drugs 2.4 %
Unable to meet basic living expenses 2.1 %
Unemployment 1.4 % (3)

Getting hard facts and figures is hard but I’m pretty sure more than one person who has lost everything playing poker has decided to cash in his chips.

Be careful. Monitor yourself. Seek help if you feel things slipping away.

(1) Christian Century; 01/28/98, Vol. 115 Issue 3, p77, 4/9p
(2) Industry engages suicide debate. By: Bhatt, Rob, Las Vegas Business Press, 10/12/98, Vol. 15, Issue 41
(3) Journal of Applied Social Psychology December 1, 2007