Addiction, Value, and Economic Insecurity in the Third and Fourth Age
In the third and fourth age, gambling often takes forms different from those commonly imagined. When gambling is mentioned, one easily thinks of casinos, card games, or structured betting. In the daily life of older adults, however, the problem more often concerns extremely available and accessible forms of gambling: slot machines in neighborhood bars, video lottery terminals, scratch cards, and prize games. These devices are always present, easy to use, require no skills, and allow completely independent play. It is not always a search for risk or excitement. More often, it is a response to states of profound insecurity, a sense of economic and existential precariousness, and the loss of the ability to produce value and income independently. In this context, gambling can become an emotional refuge even before it becomes problematic behavior.
Economic Insecurity and Loss of Value
With advancing age, many people face a radical change in their relationship with money. Reduced income, the absence of prospects for economic growth, and the feeling of no longer being able to ‘recover’ in case of difficulty can generate intense states of anxiety and distress. Money represents not only material security but also autonomy, dignity, and personal value. When these aspects are lost, the sense of vulnerability can become difficult to tolerate. Gambling is based on an intermittent reinforcement mechanism. Winning is neither constant nor predictable. It occurs sometimes, irregularly, and it is precisely this unpredictability that makes it so powerful. An occasional win can produce a temporary sense of relief, power, and possibility. For a brief moment, distress subsides, economic worries seem suspended, and the fantasy of a way out is rekindled.
Illusion, Fantasy, and Vicious Circle
These experiences reinforce fantasies of redemption and control. Gambling becomes the place where one imagines a different future—more secure, freer, and more dignified. However, the very intermittent nature of reinforcement fuels a vicious circle. The brief phase of relief is often followed by an emotional fall: frustration, shame, and a sense of failure. The need to recover that feeling of relief drives repetition of the behavior. Over time, gambling can assume a dissociative function. It allows temporary distancing from painful emotions, from thoughts related to loss, fear, and powerlessness. Simultaneously, withdrawal and isolation increase. The shame associated with gambling, fear of family judgment, and conflicts and concerns from others can lead to a progressive loss of connection with others.
Breaking Free from the Refuge of Gambling
At Spazio FormaMentis, clinical work focuses on understanding and integrating these experiences. It is not about blaming or prohibiting, but about offering a space in which to:
- recognize economic and identity insecurity
- work on anxiety, distress, and shame
- understand reinforcement and dissociation mechanisms
- build alternative forms of emotional regulation and value
In this way, gambling can lose its function as a refuge, and the person can rediscover more stable and shareable ways to inhabit time, money, and relationships. Prevention of gambling addiction in older adults cannot be limited to controlling behavior. It requires work on the meaning that gambling has assumed in the person’s life: understanding what need it seeks to satisfy, what fear it attempts to calm, and what sense of value it tries to reconstruct is a fundamental step in breaking the cycle.
