PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF SPORTS BETTING.



By Nelisa Fawks, Accra


{Image of young people staking bet}
Source: online


As the desire to make money keeps growing among young people, many have resorted to sports betting. Sports betting is the act of predicting sports results and waiting on their outcome. The youth in Ghana use apps such as Betway, Sportybet, Melbet, and 1x BET, among others to engage in the act for so many reasons.

In August 2021, some students of KNUST took to social media to mourn a final year student who died during the UTAG strike. Frederick Asamoah Frimpong reportedly committed suicide after losing a bet of sixty thousand Cedis.


Source: online

Even before the death of Frederick, there was the reported death of Hakim who also committed suicide after losing a bet worth one thousand Cedis. The most disturbing fallout from the activity recently would be the news about the 16-year-old Kwaku Appiah who also committed suicide following exchanges with his mother over his addiction to betting. Frederick, Hakim and Kwaku were part of the teeming Ghanaian youth addicted to predicting the outcome of football matches as a result of the get rich quick craze or just to earn a living.


The 2021 edition of the Journal of gambling studies estimate that 57% of the youth in sub–Saharan Africa including Ghana engage in betting.

Upon speaking to random bettors, they all revealed that their main reason for engaging in betting is “to make quick money”.


Source: online

However, this activity often leaves the bettors in a distressing psychological state when the predictions fail to provide the much-anticipated fortune. In an interview with Dr. Emmanuel Arkoh, a psychologist consultant at Health Square Medical Center in Accra, he stated that the bettors become depressed especially if they had borrowed money to stake the bet and they lost.

Picture, Dr. Emmanuel Arkoh
{Health Square Medical Center}


He added that most of them experience anxiety as they await the outcome of the bet they staked. “They also face intestinal disorders because this person is starving him or herself to get some money down for the betting”, He said.


With betting centers springing up in every nook and cranny of the country, it is unlikely that the popularity of betting will wane despite the associated health risks.


In a conversation with some bettors, they revealed that they sometimes experience such effects but they considered it “minor”.


With all these psychological effects betting has on bettors, do you think betting will be a thing of the past or it will worsen with time?


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