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GAMBLE OR GO NUTS: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER GAMBLING HAS BENEFITS FOR MENTAL HEALTH!
1 February, 2006
    
NEWS
Las Vegas, NV— Scientists taking a fresh look at gambling have been discovering that gambling can be good for mental health!
In the AGA RESPONSIBLE GAMING LECTURE SERIES (February 25, 2003), Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., C.A.S., an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, wrote that the benefits of gambling to mental health include "a healthy change and respite from the demands of every life."
Dr. Shaffer went on to write that while scientists have long recognized the importance of play for the healthy development of children, they have payed less attention to the fact that play is particularly important for adults in reducing anxiety and stress.
He also stated that gambling helped players by enhancing their ability to cope with problems. How does gambling help? Dr. Shaffer wrote: "By building skills and competencies such as memory enhancement, problem solving through game tactics, mathematical proficiency, concentration and hand-to-eye physical coordination.”
And Dr. Shaffer is not alone among reputable scientists in finding health benefits for gambling. A recent paper by David Korn of the University of Toronto and Roger Gibbins and Jason Azmier of the Canada West Foundation ( “Framing Public Policy Towards a Public Health Paradigm for Gambling”) states that "healthy gambling sustains or enhances a gambler's state of wellbeing."
Other studies have recently shown that mental activity such as the pattern recognition involved in playing multi-line bonus slots helps senior citizens stave off the effects of mental degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s by keeping the brain active and developing new connections between brain cells.
In a Jan. 25, 2006 study by the LiveScience Staff, titled “Mental Exercise Nearly Halves Dementia Risk,” scientists report: “Staying mentally and physically active throughout life is the best way to keep the mind sharp and reduce the risks of developing dementia... One large group study found that staying mentally active reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia by nearly half by building and maintaining a reserve of stimulation. ‘It is a case of “use it or lose it,' said study leader Michael Valenzuela from the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales in Australia. ‘If you increase your brain reserve over your lifetime, you seem to lessen the risk of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.’"
Finally, gambling has even been found to be an effective pain reliever. In a study by Alexander Blaszczynski, PhD (School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia) and Fiona Maccallum, MPsych (South Western Sydney Area Health Service, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, Australia), they describe a 48-year-old male patient who suffered from injury-related chronic back problems, and who used gambling as a predominant strategy to effectively reduce his back pain.
According to this patient, who is a roulette player: “… the concentration on the gambling is so intense that I don't feel anything. I... become very happy and relaxed. The concentration is on the gambling.”
With this patient, gambling worked to relieve physical pain that the doctors had been unable to cure with prescription drugs. The doctors wrote that gambling worked to relieve pain for this patient by getting him concentrated on his play and altering his state of consciousness. "Once immersed in gambling," they wrote, "all extraneous aspects of a person's life can be excluded from conscious thought, while attention and concentration are directed at the single task of winning, anticipating the next outcome..."
So, the next time you gamble, you can take satisfaction in the fact that you are not only having fun, but are also building mental health as you play! Live long and prosper!
—John Mathers
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