Gambling addiction in Germany: Are 30% of slot machine players addicted?

According to recent surveys by the Federal Center for Health Education, 429,000 people in Germany suffer from gambling addiction. Addiction experts describe online gambling and slot machines as particularly risky. In the discussion with the Hessenschau two concerning described their experiences in this connection. In the contribution published on Tuesday in addition a Suchtberaterin from Hessen comes to word.

Slot machines according to experts, are more riskily than Lotto

As Stefanie yard of the addiction assistance center wild yard (open brook) explains, it cares for concerns, which would have accumulated due to their play addiction up to 300,000 euro debts. The path to addiction often begins insidiously and "in trivial situations". For many, it is the spontaneous insertion of a coin into a slot machine that leads to an unexpected win.

Winnings at the beginning of a person's "gambling career" regularly lead to a desire to continue gambling. Researchers now largely agree that certain processes in the brain are responsible for this. Höft also explains:

"Basically, the same thing happens in the brain's reward center when someone plays on a vending machine as when he or she consumes speed or drinks alcohol."

Compared to other games of chance, playing at the slot machine makes people particularly addicted. For example, while lotto tends to be "boring," slot machines trigger the release of dopamine and adrenaline. Out of every 100 people who gambled on slot machines, 30, therefore, developed problem gambling behavior, the addiction counselor said. That is why, people are increasingly turning to the top Cricket Betting 10 sites, which gives them a more informed approach to their decisions.

The vicious circle of gambling addiction often has devastating consequences for those affected and their families. Above all, the financial losses that almost always accompany a gambling addiction rob people of all hope. This is why the suicide rate among gambling addicts is three to four times higher than for other addictions, Höft emphasizes.

More gambling addiction through online gambling?

Concerns about a possible increase in gambling addiction in Germany were one of the main arguments against the legalization of online gambling last year. At this point, there is no data on whether the number of people influenced has increased or will increase in the long term.

However, as the case studies of the Hessenschau show, gambling in online casinos became a problem for some people even before the State Treaty on Gambling came into force.

Christian Peters had already started online gambling in 2011 at the age of 19. Again and again, he says, he won three- or four-digit amounts at online slot machines, only to lose everything again afterward. He recounts:

"The stakes were absurd. I sometimes gambled away 100 or 200 euros with every spin of the machine. Whether I win or lose, I'm always tense. Because it's never over, either."

Today, Peters is trying to beat his gambling addiction without professional help and solely with the support of his girlfriend. Retiree Klaus Müller, on the other hand, is already in his second therapy. Unlike Peters, he started gambling late in life. With the middle 50 excessive gambling in the playing hall had begun.

Within five years, he lost 20,000 euros. After his first therapy, he relapsed. Only the second therapy and a move to a small town in southern Germany helped him out of his addiction.

There are many stories like that of the two men. According to addiction experts, however, it is difficult to estimate how high the number of unreported cases of gambling addicts in Germany actually is.