Mental health and gambling in Italy during years of economic crisis (2006-2016)

Pathological Gambling is a chronic, progressive, male-dominant disorder, causing great personal and social consequences, such as suicide attempts, job loss, family problems, legal problems, and criminal behaviours. Data in Italy is not currently available for epidemiological research on a large scale, but several indicators suggest that gambling activity is growing. In the context of a globalized economy, the financial crisis has seriously hit Europe, causing increased national debt levels, decreased GDP, and worsening unemployment rates. Epidemiologic data reveal a correlation between economic crisis and common mental disorder like depression and anxiety disorders. There are few articles looking at the relation between economic crisis and pathological gambling. These studies reveal that, during financial crisis, there was an increase of lottery consumption and of Casino expenditures. The aim of this ecological study is to observe the spread of gambling phenomenon in Italy; investigate how Economic Crisis has influenced mental health and gambling in Italy; Investigate the relation between mental health and gambling during Economic Crisis in Italy. This study has concluded that Gambling in Italy is a phenomenon that had a considerable increase from 2006 to 2016, going up from a total expenditure of 7 billion of euros to 13 billion of euros and the biggest increase has started from 2008 (the beginning of the economic crisis). The †œGreat Recession†� had also a great impact on mental health, in particular on anxiety disorders and mood disorders and, concerning the anxiety disorders, may be related to the increase on gambling during the same period.