The big game this weekend between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines is sure to draw millions of viewers and, increasingly, a lot of wagers.
Legal sports betting has quickly become big business in Ohio, bringing in more than $900 million in taxable revenue in each of its first two years.
With that surge has come growing concern about problem gambling.
Kelly Breidigan, MSW, is a clinical professor in the College of Social Work at Ohio State University.
Matthew Rand: Let's start with some definitions. At what point does casual wagering cross that line into what we'd consider problem gambling?
Kelley Breidigan: What we look for are some signs of consequences, right? There's some issues beginning to develop. And so we would see various signs, maybe behavioral, emotional signs, financial signs or social signs. So, things like behavioral would be preoccupation with gambling, increasing bets, chasing losses. Emotional, you'd see restlessness and irritability, gambling to escape, maybe a low mood or something like that. Financial signs, borrowing money, unpaid bills, selling possessions. And then your social signs would be things like isolation or conflict with family members and things over growing debt.
Matthew Rand: Can you walk us through the psychology of this? How does something that starts as entertainment spiral into a habit that feels like it's outside of a person's control?
Kelley Breidigan: Yeah, so it's interesting because gambling itself, while it's a behavior, it still stimulates the brain's reward system, just like drugs or alcohol would. And so, when we start to get into a space where it's kind of getting away from us a little bit, it's really important to recognize that there is potential for addiction. And so you really want to set those clear limits and protect your mental health and financial stability.
Matthew Rand: We're nearly three years into legalized sports betting in Ohio. What trends have you and others in your field been seeing when it comes to gambling-related harm?
Kelley Breidigan: Some of the impacts that you're gonna see are on the family. You're gonna see it on the individual. You know, when we've got increased arguing and fighting over things, losing money, houses, you know, really severe consequences in some cases. And there's a sense that, for some folks who do have a problem, there's a sense that they're gonna be able to pull this back. And if they just keep betting, they're gonna make up those losses. And sometimes it's just simply not the case, and it has really long-term effects.
Matthew Rand: Yeah, that sunk cost fallacy. And how much of this all is exacerbated by how easy it is to place bets these days on a smartphone?
Kelley Breidigan: It really is. It's right at your fingertips, and I think that's part of the problem. You know, in the past it was always, you kinda had to intentionally know somebody and go somewhere to do these things. And now you can just sort of pick up the cell phone, which is right there. So absolutely that's made it more difficult.
Matthew Rand: Are there certain groups more at risk of developing a problem than others?
Kelley Breidigan: There really are. So, some folks who have maybe a pre-existing mental health disorder. So, things like bipolar disorders, obsessive compulsive will see a connection to this. People that have depression that are trying to improve their mood through the chemical reward system that they get. We tend to see that this happens in younger people or middle-aged people, really more than older people.
We'll also see, if folks that have friends or family that also have gambling issues, might increase their likelihood of having that. And then maybe personality characteristics, things like folks who tend to be more highly competitive, a little bit more impulsive, folks that look for lots of increased risk and risk-taking behavior, they're gonna be more inclined.
Matthew Rand: For folks who are struggling, what does the road to recovery typically look like? What resources and support are available to people here in central Ohio?
Kelley Breidigan: Yeah, so I think, you know, anytime we're looking at treatments, these are going to be comprehensive treatments. So things like psychoeducation are going to be incredibly important. And part of the reason for that is it helps the person understand the nature of gambling, the psychological and financial effects. It also helps them recognize some strategies in order to manage urges. I think there's also different psychotherapies that are going to be things like cognitive behavioral therapy or solution focused therapy. The idea with those are going to be to slowly reverse the current reward pathways. So, you're basically helping to bring the brain back to kind of a pre-gambling function is what you're trying to do.
As far as treatment goes, there's all kinds of mental health professionals in the community. A lot of folks who treat any sort of behavioral issues can be helpful. Or you can call the College of Social Work and we certainly can get resources for you if it's something that you're concerned about.
