Citation

Vijayakumar L, Vijayakumar V. Indian J. Psychiatry 2023; 65(1): 3-4.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Medknow Publications)

DOI

10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_817_22

PMID

36874519

PMCID

PMC9983450

Abstract

Gambling is defined as an activity that involves betting or staking something of value, with the consciousness of risk, in the hope of gaining something of greater value. Popular gambling activities include lottery, sports betting, bingo, casino games like roulette, and card games like poker, rummy, and teen patti. While almost all forms of gambling are illegal in India, some card games such as online rummy have been defined as "games of skill", thereby bypassing most anti-gambling laws. Backed by robust evidence, the nosological status of gambling disorder (GD) is clearly established and should not be confused with internet addiction or internet gaming disorder.[1] GD is a valid diagnosable mental disorder under both the International Classification of Disorders, 11th revision (ICD-11) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). In the past (DSM-4), pathological gambling was considered as an "impulse control disorder" along with conditions such as trichotillomania and kleptomania.[2] However, recent literature clearly shows a significant overlap in its underlying neurobiological and genetic factors with substance-related disorders. This led to GD being moved to the substance-related disorder section in the DSM-5. The ICD-11 further categorizes GD into (i) predominantly offline and (ii) predominantly online.

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals, industries, health systems, and the economy is well documented. The abrupt disruption to lifestyles, social isolation, financial losses, and grief are a few of the factors that led to anxiety, depression, and negative emotional states during this period. Addictive behaviors such as substance abuse and online gaming and gambling grew markedly during this period, possibly as a means to alleviate those negative emotional states.[3] Online platforms that host rummy and similar games reported a huge spike in the number of people playing this game during the lockdown in March 2020. It is estimated that there are around 20,000 to 30,000 people playing rummy in India at any given time. When compared to offline gambling, factors such as availability, accessibility, affordability, anonymity, and convenience make online gambling far more attractive. The average age of online gamblers was significantly lesser (by 10 years) than offline gamblers. Factors such as poor impulse control and poor decision-making--inherent to the youth--coupled with external factors such as online peer pressure and aggressive online marketing really highlight the potential harm that online gambling can cause to young vulnerable individuals.[4] Data from a 2020 report on online gaming in India included games such as teen patti, rummy, and poker as they were, again, considered "games of skill". The report revealed that the online gaming industry grew 40% in 2019 to reach INR 65 billion and is expected to reach INR 187 billion by 2022. Specifically, games like rummy, poker, and teen patti grew by 30% compared to the previous year. They found this growth to be driven by (i) incentives to win money instantly in transaction-based games, (ii) a more pervasive mobile payment ecosystem and (iii) active marketing and branding campaigns led by celebrities...

Language: en