Betting, gambling, gaming irrespective of online or offline channels have become spaces where people get hooked on. What seems fun, exciting and thrilling, can very soon become a habit, start creating other problems in life and become an addiction.

When a person gets hooked on to winning these bets or games the brain releases dopamine and the person feels good. Dopamine is part of the brain’s reward system and helps us feel pleasure, when we engage in activities that we like or enjoy experiences. But the same dopamine also is released when we experience a win in gambling, have junk food or watch a series or scroll mindlessly on social media.

Coming back to these betting and gambling addictions, the person feels hooked and needs more and more of wins to reach the same level of pleasure over time. So they keep playing even when they are losing money or don’t even have the money – leading to taking loans or stealing money etc to engage in the addiction.

This impacts many aspects of their life – work, relationships, family, finances, social connections etc. What they need is help and support from family, friends and social circle – not to get them out of debt – but to help them get out of the addiction.

Inner Dawn Counsellor Kala Balasubramanian’s views featured in Deccan Herald 29-Mar-24.

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