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Fueled by sports betting, gambling addiction is exploding on college campuses

By Oliver Staley

Health Editor

If you’ve watched even a fraction of a U.S. football game this fall, you’ve almost certainly been struck by the number of advertisements for online sports gambling. It’s no accident: Thanks to a 2018 Supreme Court decision legalizing sports betting, we are in the midst of the biggest expansion of gambling in the nation’s history, and companies are scrambling to get their apps onto your phone and into your wallets.

Among the most eager sports gamblers are college students, who are at a time in life when they're more likely to take risks and make dubious decisions. The result is escalating levels of problem gambling among young people; indeed, one out of 10 are now gambling addicts, according to one meta-analysis, far more than the population at large.

The consequences can be dire, from failing classes and frittering away financial aid money, to increased rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide. One gambling addict I spoke to described years of isolation and shame, telling me he was close to embezzling from his employer to solve his financial trouble before seeking help. Now $200,000 in debt, he no longer trusts himself with his finances, and has handed control of his bank account to his mother.

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Are we talking about mental health too much?

We are living in an era of remarkable openness about mental health, and the internet is awash in therapy-speak, celebrities discussing their anxiety, and a bounty of apps and sites eager to help us with our troubles. But as Derek Thompson writes in the Atlantic, all this talk about anxiety maybe be creating more of it, and there's evidence to show that efforts to intervene can actually make it worse.

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Today's newsletter was written by Oliver Staley, and edited by Elijah Wolfson and Oliver.