Gambling is a popular pastime for many individuals around the world. It is a high risk-high reward form of entertainment that offers excitement and the potential to win big money. However, it’s important to remember that gambling is not for everyone and can cause serious problems if it is not done in moderation. While some people believe that gambling is a harmless activity, it is actually a form of addiction.

Those who gamble often enjoy the socializing, mental developments, and skill improvement that comes with this hobby. While this is true for most individuals, others struggle with a negative perception of gambling and view it as a harmful activity. This is because gambling can be viewed as a negative thing in the media and it’s hard for some to see the positive aspects of it.

The negative effects of gambling are well documented and have been observed at the personal, interpersonal and community/society levels (Fig. 1). The personal level of impacts involves the gambler and their family. These include financial losses and debts, increased stress on relationships, decreased work performance, escalating to bankruptcy and homelessness, and even suicide. Interpersonal and community/society levels of impacts involve those who are not the gambler themselves, such as family members and coworkers. These include monetary costs that others must pay, such as loss of wages or increased rent and living prices, and non-monetary harms like reduced social cohesion and diminished quality of life.

In addition to monetary costs, there are also non-monetary harms caused by gambling that can be difficult to quantify, including psychological distress and decline in social capital. These harms are usually considered by researchers using health-related quality of life (HRQL) weights, a measure similar to disability weights that are used in health research and assessment.

Studies have primarily focused on the negative aspects of gambling, which are easier to quantify, rather than looking at both the costs and benefits. This has resulted in a lack of information on the benefits of gambling, especially those that occur at the community/societal level. This type of information would help policy makers compare the costs and benefits of different gambling policies and decide on which ones will reduce both costs and harms. It is essential to understand the positive and negative impacts of gambling because it is a global industry that influences not only individual gamblers but their significant others and the surrounding communities. These impacts can have long-term ramifications that change the life course of an individual and pass between generations. To help identify the most important impacts of gambling, a public health approach should be employed. This includes using a framework that identifies the major impact domains to facilitate comprehensive evaluations. The results of this approach can help develop evidence-based interventions and guide future research.