We are in a period of a driven deep recession in which the media impart fear in citizens and make them passive receivers of the situation. It looks like as an attempt to control the reactions of the population and spread a generalized climate of sorrow. How is economic crisis related to placing bets?
We note that despite the economic crisis some habits are difficult to change. So many people still placing bets, spending large or small amounts of money. Why does this happen? The answer is that gambling is a habit that includes a specific ritual. More specifically, the people who bet search information on the odds of winning. In this way they communicate with other people who belong to the same group which has a common characteristic, the love of betting. Therefore it is a form of socialization where people feel accepted by those around them.
Beyond socialization, these people feel alive. How does this happen? They are in a constant search of information as stated above, where the continuous effort to find new combinations in order to bet causes euphoria. They feel adrenaline rushing especially when the result is positive.Then this habit is reinforced and the cycle is repeated with greater intensity. At this moment they only think how to win again, what their options are. They focus all their energy to betting.
Of course the results are not always positive. What happens then? There is a perception that hope dies last because they think that if they once won they can win again. As a result they don’t pay so much attention to negative probabilities. This means that they can lose smaller or larger amounts of money,somethind that affects many aspects of their lives especially when the bet is not a mere habit but an addiction. In this case they spend most of their time betting, they neglect their personal lives, they may not meet the demands of their work and become isolated. Initially, the consequences may not be very obvious. As long as betting is continued then the gap which is created in various aspects of their life becomes greater. This can lead to economic misery. What happens then? The person is confronted with the consequences of addiction and the harsh reality of economic crisis where all these can lead to a deadlock. Then this might lead to destruction or one must find the courage to regroup his forces in order to think how to deal with the situation. The first option is equivalent to deadlock, while the second option is equivalent to creating an action plan for managing the situation.
Based on the above, one would expect that the rates of participation in betting would fall due to unfavorable economic conditions. In contrast the rates are still high as betting is a way of escaping from the harsh reality into another world where odds and a sense of aliveness dominate. Only when things reach a dead end as said before, then one takes action and returns to what we is known as “the real world”.