Responsible gambling - Consumer Affairs Victoria

CONTINUED
D2
A vicious circle
Exercise 3 – Loneliness
Work with a partner for this exercise
GAMBLER’S HELP LINE
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Responsible Gambling | Section D: What are you gambling with?
Consumer Affairs Victoria | consumer.vic.gov.au
Some problem gamblers, particularly female ones, report loneliness
as a factor leading to gambling on the pokies. Someone entering a
pokies venue would be confronted with bright images, lights, sounds
and people sitting in rows playing the machines, usually not talking
to each other.
a) Would sitting at a pokies machine really help loneliness? Why?
b) Imagine that your friend moved away and some time later you received a call where they
confessed to feeling lonely in their new town. What are some positive suggestions you could
make to help them combat their loneliness? Consider presenting your ideas as a script for a
telephone conversation.
c) Choose any other three factors from the table in Exercise 2 and discuss why gambling would be
chosen by someone in those circumstances. What are some other alternatives for someone in
these circumstances?
d) Following on from your answers to b), to what extent is gambling likely to provide what the
person is seeking?
e) Consider the factors of loneliness, boredom, depression, loss, peer group pressure, reward and
habit. Gambling is not the only problem that these things may lead to for some people. What
other problems could arise from these? Why?
1800 858 858 www.problemgambling.vic.gov.au