Alright, the book is edited a d online. Going to be working on the zines now! Argh im getting stage fright and its only the drafting stage. Haven't even gotten out the door yet.
#PoliticalPhilosophy #Autonomy #CivilizationDesign #HarmReduction #SocialPhilosophy
Holiday Gambling: Why You Bet Matters More Than How Much
The Surprising Psychology of Sports Gambling
Are you thinking about placing a little wager on a football game this holiday season? With the rapid growth and normalization of sports gambling across the United States and Canada, betting on a game is more common than ever. But what are the real reasons people gamble?
Most would assume it’s simply for fun, to make a game more exciting, or for the chance to win money. But what if the most important metric for gambling risk isn’t on a bank statement, but in the unseen emotions driving the bet?
A recent study of over 900 sports bettors reveals a more complex picture, uncovering deeper psychological motivations that separate casual fun from problematic behavior. The findings challenge our basic assumptions about gambling risk. This article will break down the five most impactful takeaways from this research, revealing that the “why” behind a bet is far more important than the “how much.”
1. Your Reason for Betting Matters More Than How Much You Spend
One of the study’s most unexpected findings was the relationship between mental health, betting habits, and gambling problems. The research showed that greater anxiety and depression were strongly linked to the severity of a person’s gambling problems. However, these emotional states were not significantly related to the total amount of money a person spent or the total number of bets they made.
This insight reframes how we should think about risk. It’s not just about the financial footprint of betting, but the emotional impetus behind it.
According to the study, the true indicator of risk isn’t found in a bettor’s bank statement, but in the emotional state that drives them to bet in the first place.
This is a critical distinction. It shifts the focus from a purely financial view of problem gambling to a psychological one, suggesting that the “why” you bet is a more telling sign of risk than the “how much” you spend.
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2. The Crucial Difference: Gambling for Fun vs. Betting to Escape
The study identified two key motivations that drive people to bet, each with vastly different outcomes:
The results linked to each motive were counter-intuitive.
This revealed a fascinating paradox: while betting to enhance the fun of a game was linked to placing bets more often, it was simultaneously associated with fewer gambling problems. This suggests a clear psychological dividing line between frequent, low-risk engagement and problematic, high-risk behavior.
In stark contrast, betting to cope was the single strongest pathway linking pre-existing anxiety and depression to serious gambling problems.
Crucially, this connection held true even when the researchers accounted for other potential drivers like betting for social or financial reasons, isolating ‘coping’ as the most dangerous motivation. This finding strongly supports the “emotionally vulnerable pathway” model of problem gambling, where individuals use gambling as a maladaptive strategy to manage emotional distress.
3. “In-Play” Gambling Is a Different Beast Entirely
“In-play” sports betting, defined as making wagers during a live game, has exploded in popularity. The study’s findings on this specific group were stark. Compared to bettors who only place wagers before a game starts (single-event or traditional bettors), in-play bettors reported:
This raises a critical question for researchers: does the high-speed, constant-feedback nature of in-play betting actively create psychological distress, or does it primarily attract individuals already struggling with anxiety and depression who are seeking a powerful distraction?
As professionals, our time is valuable. Dr. Weeks created the Mitigation Aide Research Archive because there isn’t enough focused, data-backed research available in easily digestible formats.
4. For Sports Bettors, Anxiety and Depression Are Often Intertwined
The research observed that in this sample of sports bettors, depression and anxiety were “highly correlated.” In simple terms, participants who scored high on one tended to score high on the other.
The researchers noted that this suggests these conditions are more likely to be comorbid—or occur together—in people who bet on sports. The connection was so strong that the effects of anxiety and depression on gambling behaviors often overlapped. This reinforces the concept of a combined “emotional vulnerability” that can fuel problematic gambling, rather than a single, isolated mental health issue.
5. The Psychological Blueprint Is Surprisingly Consistent Across Genders
The study also examined differences between men and women, revealing a nuanced picture. On the surface, there were clear differences in behavior and emotional states:
Despite these differences in emotional states and motivations, men and women reported statistically similar levels of overall gambling problems.
The more profound finding was that despite these surface-level differences, the underlying psychological model was the same for both groups.
The core pathways showing how anxiety, depression, and motives lead to gambling problems did not differ between men and women. This suggests that when it comes to the fundamental emotional drivers of problem gambling, gender may not change the blueprint. Interventions, therefore, can likely focus on these consistent psychological drivers for everyone.
Conclusion
This research cuts through the noise of wins, losses, and dollar amounts to deliver a clear message:
Understanding the motivation behind gambling is the key to understanding the risk of it becoming a problem.
While many people bet to enhance their enjoyment of a sport with few negative consequences, the data points to a clear red flag:
The strongest pathway to serious gambling problems isn’t rooted in how much money is spent, but in whether the bettor is motivated by a need to cope with or escape from negative emotions.
Before placing your next bet, it might be worth asking: am I doing this to enhance my fun, or to escape my feelings?
Drop a comment and let us know if you were able to identify any motivations you may have for acting out this holiday season.
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#addictionRecovery #anxietyAndGambling #behavioralAddiction #bettingBehavior #bettingMotives #copingMotives #depressionAndGambling #emotionalVulnerability #enhancementMotives #footballBetting #gamblingDisorder #gamblingEducation #gamblingPsychology #gamblingRiskFactors #harmReduction #holidayFootball #inPlayBetting #liveBetting #mentalHealth #problemGambling #responsibleGambling #selfReflection #sportsBetting #sportsGambling
This is the model we need everywhere:
Health-first, youth-centred crisis response that brings care to people instead of defaulting to police or ERs
It works — but only if governments fund, staff, and scale it seriously.
This warning shouldn't be only given out at Christmas - #ketamine will fuck you up at any time of the year - it wrecked a whole generation and the rave subculture starting from 27 years ago, and is now taking its toll on a new generation.
Ironically more so because noisy hedonistic weekend parties have been clamped down on a lot more and its relatively short duration of action makes midweek usage possible, whilst still just about coping with work/education responsibilities (at least before folk go too far down the rabbithole)
Making an already toxic drug supply even deadlier — paralysis, non-reversible ODs, burned-out first responders.
This is exactly why harm reduction, drug checking, safer supply & supervised care save lives.
Ideology won’t. Evidence does.
https://capitalcurrent.ca/experts-warn-of-rising-xylazine-linked-opioid-overdoses-in-ottawa-and-nationwide/
#HarmReduction #PublicHealth #Ottawa
Heute das 16. Türchen/ Märchen im antiprohibitionistischen Adventskalender. "Trumps Fentanyl als Massenvernichtungswaffe" dabei wurde es jahrelang von der US-Pharma verharmlost. https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article410721984/massenvernichtungswaffe-warum-trumps-fentanyl-strategie-ins-leere-laufen-kann.html
#DieLinke #Weedmob #Drugs #HarmReduction
#HarmReduction and #DisasterPreparedness is the name of the game, Lovers.
Let's get with the program!
❤️🔥✊️❤️🔥
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jwdavettwqqky4whcgykvzm6/post/3m7yq5n72ck2j
Maybe someone in need will actually needs this. Who knows. #HarmReduction
https://dreadytofatroptsdj6io7l3xptbet6onoyno2yv7jicoxknyazubrad[.]onion/post/58a249ee6d29e4cccc15
This private clinic replaced a safe consumption site, which was working.
When it was shut down by Doug Ford, it moved in, and locals immediately began to protest the impact the clinic was having. It closed, only for an identical private clinic to open.
Safe consumption sites work. Private medicine does not. Ford is killing us.
#HarmReduction #DrugPolicy #SafeConsumption #Ottawa #Ontario #Canada #Politics #Health
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fth_keFXOLI
Let's hope it looks better than that gulag they are calling a 72-hr #detox.
As for the business owner speaking out, that pisses me off.
People are using now on the streets and are dying...a staffed #consumptionsite is far less risky than that. The "not in my backyard " mentality has got to go.
#harmreduction #harmreductionsaveslives #addiction #winnipeg #manitoba #advocacy #socialservices #substancemisuse
Dear friends who use, are not using right now, or former users, which of the following terms do you prefer? Also taking statements, justifications, or rationales in the comments.
*Bracket the "not using right now" / "former user" distinction—that's for another poll.
Das 4.Türchen / Märchen in unserem antiprohibitionistischen Adventskalender. Es galt jahrelang als unmöglich sich mit der Droge Koffein zu vergiften. Niemand kann in sehr kurzer Zeit soviel Kaffee trinken. Hochkonzentriertes Pulver als Nahrungsergänzung schafft das aber. https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2024/10/tod-durch-koffein-ueberdosierung-herz.html
#HarmReduction #dielinke #weedmob #Drugs
A fantastic idea — evidence-based, flexible care for people with alcohol or opioid withdrawal
It’s not enough for demand but it’s a huge, life-saving step toward real harm-reduction access 💙
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/senator-winnipeg-detox-facility-9.6997846
Let me get this straight.
Sen. Pate was invited to tour the facility by MP #leahgazan, but not permitted to tour the inside??
Yeah, that's not #sus at all.
This facility looks like a #gulag. I worked with people with active addictions when I was a #socialworker. You can keep things safe in a dignified manner.
#addiction #harmreduction #mbpoli #winnipeg #detoxcentre #ndpmb
Heute ist World AIDS Day.
Dieser Tag erinnert daran, dass HIV keine medizinische Tragödie mehr sein muss, aber nur dort, wo Menschen Zugang zu Wissen, Medikamenten, Schutz und solidarischer Gesundheitsversorgung haben. Hier zeigt sich, wie ungleich Leben verteilt ist.⬇️
#WorldAIDSDay #WAD2024 #StopHIVStigma #EndAIDS #HIVPrevention #HIVJustice #SexWorkIsWork #QueerHealth #TransHealth #DisabilityJustice #HarmReduction #UequalsU #AbolishStigma #HealthForAll #GlobalHealthJustice
i will say it really sucks how 'harm reduction' - a term that describes showing compassion to drug users & providing resources to make drug use safer - has been co-opted by people who couldn't care whether drug users live or die to defend politicians who also couldn't care whether they live or die
Africa: From Scepticism to Science - How Two Doctors Embraced Evidence-Based Harm Reduction: [allAfrica] Back in 2014, what started as a routine check-up for a patient turned into something Dr Rohan Sequeira, a medical doctor from India, still cherishes today. As an expert in Cardiology, Dr Sequeira had for years prescribed complete cessation of smoking to his patients as a way of slowing… http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TPNhqr #HarmReduction #EvidenceBasedMedicine #Cardiology #PublicHealth #SmokingCessation
Africa: Tobacco Harm Reduction in Africa - Sovereignty Under Siege: [allAfrica] In recent years, Africa has increasingly found herself at the crossroads of global health politics. On one side stand Western philanthropists and international organisations with deep pockets and strong convictions about how tobacco control should look. http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TPJyXk #TobaccoControl #HarmReduction #PublicHealth #Africa #GlobalHealth
Ottawa’s ANCHOR program is proving what we’ve known forever: crisis calls don’t need badges, they need support. One year in and it’s delivering. Scale it up.
#Ottawa #CrisisResponse #MentalHealthMatters #DefundTheStigma #HarmReduction
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/anchor-program-one-year-update-9.6980214
