Miguel*, 15, started playing online with his parents’ permission, but soon switched to sports betting. His parents didn’t stop him, because they thought their son was playing a common game. They only discovered Miguel’s compulsion after he took out a loan of 30 thousand reais using the family’s credit card. Upon investigating further, his parents discovered that he had been betting on greyhound dog racing games in the English countryside.

Alex*, aged 14, from a family with good financial conditions, started betting with the money he received as gifts from his uncles and grandparents. His parents became aware of his addiction because he started asking for higher amounts of money and his relatives stopped giving him money. To get money, he started selling his own belongings.

(*) The names are fictitious.

These are just two examples of teenagers who developed ludomania, a compulsion to gamble. But this number has been increasing. Specialized in caring for people with addictions, psychiatrist Carla Bicca has seen the profile of patients change. “I don’t work with children and adolescents, but, in recent times, I have received patients aged between 13 and 14 who already have signs of addiction [dependence]”, says the doctor, who is coordinator of the Addictions Psychiatry Commission, of the Brazilian Association of Psychiatry.

This drop in the age of patients is worrying. Ludomania is recognized by the World Health Organization as an impulse-related disorder and belongs to the category of behavioral dependence. It is often associated to various manifestations of social and health problems, such as depression, suicide, family conflicts, financial disorder, professional and educational disorders.

According to Carla, the World Cup in Qatar gave a strong boost to sports betting sites. The numbers prove it: Brazil was the country that generated the highest volume of site visits in 2022, according to a survey by Similarweb — the increase in visits was 75%. The beginning of 2023 showed that the country had the highest increase in visits, reaching a volume of 3.78 billion visits accumulated since January 2022.

Why do youngsters bet

A survey carried out by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef), in 2021, with one thousand teenagers aged between 14 and 17 in Georgia (United States), showed that 61% of those interviewed knew at least one person who gambled; 30% were interested in gambling; and 13% frequently gambled. The study also showed that teenagers rarely start betting alone. Around 51% of them are led to gamble encouraged by their friends.

Information is also scarce. Among those interviewed, 80% said they had not received information about the risk of addiction and 90% did not want to know more about it. “We will only realize that it really is a problem when the numbers are already very high”, regrets Luiza Dalmazo, an influencer who offers financial guidance to children and teenagers.

WHAT MAKES YOUNGSTERS INTERESTED IN BETTING GAMES? 40% I WANT TO WIN MONEY 32% I WANT TO SPEND MY TIME 28% I AM SAD/CROSS AND WANT TO HAVE FUN 17% BETTING IS POPULAR AMONGST MY FRIENDS 9% I HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT BET AND I ALSO WANT TO BET 3% I WANT TO HAVE A NEW EXPERIENCE/I AM INTERESTED 3% OTHER

Young people are the most susceptible

Being young is an aggravating factor for the development of dependence. “The younger they are, the greater the susceptibility, because the brain is not yet fully formed”, says psychologist Maurício Cotrim. He adds that the brain is fully formed as from the age of 21 — before that, the human being is more vulnerable to any type of addiction.

Young people with a family history of addiction are more at risk of facing this problem. Adding these factors to continued exposure without any form of blocking, makes the picture more worrying. “Even if the child doesn’t have a gene for addiction, if they have a lot of exposure, they can become addicted too,” says Carla. The fact that bets are placed via cell phone applications hinders family control and even the healing process. As the device is ubiquitous in the daily lives of young people, it is difficult to ensure that they will not have access to these applications.

The impulsiveness characteristic of this age group also increases the risks. “Young people find it hard to identify losses. Even if they see others doing badly, they think it will be different with them. He thinks he doesn’t run the risk of becoming addicted,” says Cotrim.

One can’t win

When they win a bet, some people activate the gratification area of the brain and they will want to repeat the dose, until they become dependent. The user wins the first few times, gets excited, bets again, and then comes the so-called losing phase. Looking for the feeling of reward, he plays again, again and again, trying to win. However, there is never a happy ending. “Betting apps are like casinos: the gambler never wins,” says Carla.

Intense advertising

Another complicating factor in the betting craze is advertising. Just watch a football match and you will see that advertisements for these services are made during the commercial TV breaks and are all around the football pitches. It is also common to see the logos of betting apps printed on the shirts of the main football clubs.

To be even more attractive, it is the athletes themselves who star in the campaigns, often the idols of children and teenagers. Stars like Vinicius Jr. and the futsal player Falcão are amongst them.

The advertisements always talk about the gains and benefits of this activity, but they leave aside the risks and harm caused.

It’s not hard to find celebrities who have lost money gambling. One of the most prominent examples is the rapper Drake. Considering only what he has already disclosed on social media, his losses, recorded by the UOL website, have already reached 18.79 million reais.

The risks of this high exposure are starting to be considered. Abroad, the Premier League in England decided to ban the sponsorship of betting sites on the front of football shirts from the start of the 2026/27 season. The logos may still appear on other parts of the uniform, such as the sleeves.

BETTING AND THE LAW Gambling games were banned in Brazil in 1946, but, as of 2018, a Provisional Measure (MP) legalized betting, establishing a four-year period for this activity to be regulated. The deadline expired in December 2022. The companies operating in Brazil today are based outside the country, but that does not stop them from making a lot of money. There are estimates that the value operated by these companies is of 12 billion reais. In July this year, the government published a new Provisional Measure that regulates and taxes betting. It prohibits minors under 18 from using the sites and also determines a charge of 30% income tax on bettors who receive prizes above 2,112 reais.The measures still need to be analyzed by the National Congress. “There is a lot of discussion regarding the financial aspect and tax collection, but there is no concern about health or information campaigns for gamblers and their families”, says psychiatrist Carla Bicca.

BE AWARE OF THE RISKS

To help young people identify whether they are at risk of developing a gambling addiction, psychiatrist Carla Bicca created a very simple questionnaire. “It’s a guide that makes people think; it won’t reach any conclusion, but it will start a thought process”, says the doctor.

A SUGGESTION FOR SELF AWARENESS ABOUT THE INVOLVEMENT WITH BETS

I BET ON SPORTS?

YES/ NO

I HAVE FACED DIFFICULTIES WITH BETS AND, FOR THIS REASON, I THOUGHT, FELT AND TRIED TO CONTROL MYSELF OR TO STOP BETTING?

YES/ NO

DOES ANYONE COMMENT THAT I AM BETTING OR THAT THE BETS THAT I MAKE BOTHER PEOPLE THAT I AM CLOSE TO?

YES/ NO

I HAVE ALREADY FELT GUILTY ABOUT BETTING, MISSED OUT OR NOT DONE SOMETHING THAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE BECAUSE OF THIS?

YES/ NO

BETTING HELPS ME DEAL WITH SITUATIONS, EMOTIONS OR THOUGHTS?

YES/ NO

MY HABIT OF BETTING ON SPORTS MIGHT BE A PROBLEM?

YES/ NO

SOURCE: DR. CARLA BICCA