Those from OISED are more surprising to those outside the sector than to those within the sector. The Socio-Economic Impact of Addiction Observatory told us how many pathological gamblers there actually are. The results are here.
OISED and the true dimensions of pathological gambling
OISED describes the situation of “gambling addiction” in Italy
Unfortunately, in an Italy that is used to being on the side of the fan dynamic, it seems like it has become a luxury to delve into issues without being critical and having no idea what we are talking about, but it is not. The issue of addiction is always sensitive, and so is this one. game addictionHowever, a lot of demagoguery has been and is being done around this.
Hence the results of the first year of OISED (short for OISED) research. Observatory on the Socio-Economic Impact of Addiction. Born in 2022 from the collaboration between CREA Sanità (Center for Applied Economic Research in Healthcare) and Ce.R.Co (Centre for Research and Research on Consumption and Addiction), the Observatory aims to deepen knowledge about the addiction sector.
In the section of the OISED study titled Addiction Epidemiology, the issue of figures measured by various sources in both public and private services is discussed. Approximately 250,000 individuals with addiction were taken into care in 2021. While more than 80 percent of these are related to drugs and alcoholism, 6% are represented by users with gaming addiction pathological gambling.
Comforting numbers, but not enough to let your guard down
“Okay, but how much is this 6 percent?” you may be wondering. According to OISED It would be around 15 thousand, people are being treated for pathological gambling problems. Before understanding whether it is a lot or a little, it is necessary to remember the direction taken by the Meloni Government. Inside Financial Authorization Law The regulation approved last August contains guidelines for the reorganization of the sector.
According to the intention of the current administration, measures to protect the most vulnerable segments of the population (minors, people at risk of gambling) will be strengthened. The direction is the right one and responds to a greater sensitivity to the issue, which is now widespread in many Western and especially European countries, where these 15,000 pathological gamblers are rightly considered “bad”. Individuals who need to be protected, cared for and cared for.
Having said this, the dimensions of the event must also be repeated accurately. Data from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità says there are approximately 18.5 million gamers in Italy. Therefore, the 15,000 people highlighted by OISED, only 0.08% of the total. Maximum caution therefore needs to be exercised, but attempts to criminalize an industry and the passion of millions of Italians must be returned to the sender.
