Has sports betting increased gambling addiction? – Deseret News

Just as sports betting has skyrocketed, so has the number of people looking for ways to get out of gambling addiction. New research into Jama Internal Medicine It says millions of people are seeking help.

A team of researchers led by the University of California San Diego Qualcomm Institute and the School of Medicine said the study has shown a dramatic surge in sports betting, as it has made gambling easier since the Supreme Court decision in 2018.

“When the Supreme Court legalized the sportsbook (a venue where people can wager at various sports competitions), public health experts paid little attention in Murphy vs. NCAA,” said the senior study. The author stated. John W. Ayersassistant director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, associate director of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, UC San Diego Altman Clinical Institute, and scientist at Qualcomm Institute; Written Statement. “Currently, sportsbooks are expanding from a single state to 38 states, with hundreds of billions of bets being mostly online and record-breaking for help in The Gambling addiction This is consistent with the demand.

The survey found that total sports betting “surged” from $4.9 billion in 2017 to $121.1 billion in 2023. That year, 94% of bets were placed online.

“Sports betting is deeply embedded in our culture,” Matthew Allen, a third-year medical student, said in a news release. “From merciless ads to social media feeds and in-game commentary, sportsbooks are everywhere now. What was once a taboo activity that was once confined to the periphery of society has now been completely normalized.”

This study points out that gambling addiction is a perceived disorder in the diagnostic and statistical manuals of mental disorders. However, there is no systematic oversight, said Dr. Kevin Yang, a third-year resident of the Department of Psychiatry, one of the study authors. “Without systemic surveillance, we’re flying blindly while we bet on millions of sports.”

Count Gambling Help queries

From January 1, 2016 to mid-2024, researchers analyzed Google’s search trends, looking for people who mentioned gambling, addiction, addiction, anonymity and hotlines.

“Many people who suffer from addiction don’t openly discuss it, but they rely on the internet for answers,” Dr. Davey Smith, professor of medicine and director of the Altman Institute, said in the release. Ta. “Analyzing search trends will provide real-time insight into the true scale of gambling addiction in the US.”

Researchers said questions seeking help with gambling addiction, including “are you crazy about gambling?”, have risen 23% nationwide since the trial was decided until June last year. “It corresponds to a search of around 6.5-7.3 million people nationwide for help with gambling addiction, with 180,000 searches per month, according to its release.”

Researchers have opened sportsbooks, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and these states have seen a significant increase in demand for gambling addiction support. He said he was seen. In all these states, the increase in demand for help has risen by at least 30%. Ohio has increased by 67%.

Seeking help with gambling addiction was particularly powerful for online betting people compared to traditional brick and mortar sportsbooks.

NPR reported In Research by Illinois Department of Human Services Showed Teens and young adults had the highest prevalence of online gaming.

Mitigate the risk of gambling

The research authors have several recommendations to reduce the risk of sports betting. They requested:

• Increased funding for gambling addiction services. You may be paid to use your Sportsbook tax revenue.
• Expanded advertising rules like cigarettes and alcohol suppress where ads are and who are targeted.
• A clinical training programme to help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat gambling addiction.
• Betting restrictions, age restrictions, forced breaks, and gambling restrictions using online sportsbook credit cards.
• A public awareness campaign aimed at highlighting risks and warning signs and encouraging early intervention.
• Continuous data sharing and research collaboration find working interventions and improve policies in real time.

“There’s a lack of regulation on sportsbooks because the Supreme Court, not the legislators, has legalized them,” concluded Ayers. “Congress must now act by passing common sense safeguards. History is that unidentified industries, whether cigarettes or opioids, will do great harm before regulations catch up. It shows that you can take aggressive measures to prevent gambling-related harms or repeat past mistakes and pay the price later.”

National Council on Gambling in Problem To Congress, D-Conn. He called for support from Senator Richard Blumenthal and D-ARE Rep. Andrea Salinas to recover, invest and treat gambling addiction. “The law will establish the first ever federal funding source to support problematic gambling treatment, prevention and research efforts across the country,” the council said.

The bill directs half of federal sports betting taxes to fund gambling addiction treatment and research programs.