Online sports betting “is highly addictive” and its connection with sports, whether through advertising or associations, creates a “vicious circle” in psychological terms that causes problems, clinical psychologist Assunção Neto told Lusa.
According to the specialist from the Psychology & Performance Group, sports betting has an effect on the brain that “works in the same way as any other addiction”, whether it is alcohol, drugs, medication or other addictive behavior.
The association of advertising with the sports phenomenon, forcing people to guess the outcome, and dozens of other possible factors, also has harmful consequences, especially for people vulnerable to gambling problems.
“It’s becoming easier to influence people, for different reasons. People already go to watch sports because sports give an intense feeling that most people can’t have otherwise in life. (…) When we go to a sporting event, the excitement and expectation of well-being are present during that event, and this causes our brain to be very enlightened in terms of the feeling of pleasure.he defends.
So when you watch a sporting event, such as a football match, it is common to come across advertisements for online gambling houses and games, in addition to state social games also related to sports, whether during television breaks, on large screens, in the names of stadiums and competitions and on players’ shirts.
“When we associate advertising with a moment like this, we associate advertising with a moment of pleasure. When we remember the event or the commercial, it becomes associated with a moment of pleasure. This is the first step.”points out.
Betting, itself a gambling phenomenon, is linked to this moment of pleasure and ‘something that is very socially accepted and even desirable, and that ensures greater well-being, because it is normal [o desporto] is shared with others, allowing conversations and integration into groups”and the communication is not even subliminal but “visible to everyone” and “very noticeable”.
“The gambling game itself has a magical component: ‘I’m going to gamble and I’ll get something in return’. In reality, the exchange does not end up happening. What gives someone a lot of pleasure is the expectation of what might come. The anticipation on the reward. It does not come afterwards, but the person has already experienced the anticipation of the reward in his body, which produces a cocktail of chemical mediators in the brain and body that make us feel very good. They are very powerful .’details.
This phenomenon of anticipation begins with the illusion of control, of ‘information gathering’, and then, “If there is great dissatisfaction because it is not deserved, it is put aside because the person does not want to experience it”.
“Only when extreme situations are reached do people stop gambling. This is even more serious in our society because we have a very serious economic crisis. And those who gamble more are people with less money. The need comes together that magic and anticipation ‘I will solve my problems when I make money.’ Therefore, this is a very complex and very difficult vicious circle. This mechanism installs itself in our brain in the same way as the pleasure of heroin, alcohol, i.e. what it will be.’sorry.
As for advertising, this “It is particularly serious because people cannot decide whether to expose themselves or not”and Assunção Neto recalls how tobacco disappeared from Formula 1 and the sport in general, due to its “impact on public health worldwide”.
If in the case of alcohol it is “much more complicated”, because it is more socially accepted, in gambling it becomes “more indirect and less noticeable”, because it does not affect physical health, and is also linked to learning a young age.
“Children learn to play. Through playing they learn social rules, and it is very satisfying to play and win. Competitiveness is a very human trait.”comments.
The expert notes how advertising messages are “everywhere at a sporting event”, associating one with the other, illustrating the long-standing association of a beer brand with the national team.
The option to promote alcohol-free products, which originated in Portugal, leads her to resort to clinical experiences, noting that this “can allow greater acceptance”, as a substitute factor.
He doubts whether the legislation surrounding sports betting can be ‘tightened’, especially because the law itself only allows gambling from the age of 18 “and that is not what is happening”.
The emphasis will then have to be on “education, and on allowing people to have a better life without having to play so much”, to counteract a theme that “has very great additive potential”.
Source: DN
