According to recent research, fewer than 3% of gambling addicts are getting treatment for their problem gambling behaviour. Some top experts have shared that the statistics released on October 29th by the National Gambling Treatment Service highlighted some of the biggest flaws in the British problem gambling treatment system and exposed the negative effects that the country’s relatively relaxed regulatory regime had.
Yesterday, the National Gambling Treatment Service published its latest statistics, according to which 9,008 people received professional help for their gambling addiction in the year to the end of March 2020. This basically means that only around 3% of problem gamblers in the UK, and experts say far less than that, are getting any help to deal with their compulsive gambling habits.
According to a 2018 study held by National Health Service (NHS) Digital, there are around 280,000 gambling addicts in England only, and a YouGov survey held earlier in 2020 found there could be about 1.4 million problem gamblers in the UK.
Claire Murdoch, the mental health director at NHS England, explained that the service has addressed the problem by opening up four new clinics that are specially aimed at helping British residents who find it hard to control their gambling. Ms Murdoch, however, also shared that the newest report came as a “wake-up call” to the gambling industry that has long been blamed for taking advantage of vulnerable players causing them much harm.
Most British Problem Gamblers in Treatment Are Young Men
The latest data showed that almost half (45%) of the people who got professional treatment had gone bankrupt, generated debts amounting to more than £5,000, or were going through some kind of a debt repayment scheme. Those individuals had also spent averagely more than £2,000 in the month before they receive gambling addiction treatment.
Over 25% of them shared their problem gambling cost them a relationship, while 12% admitted they had lost their job because of their gambling addiction. Also, three-fourths (75%) of the problem gamblers in treatment were young men, usually in their 20s or 30s. However, the latest data also showed that the number of women getting gambling addiction treatment increased from 19% in 2015/16 to almost 25% in the twelve months to the end of March 2020.
According to the report, most people who got professional help to deal with their compulsive gambling habits showed improvement. Unfortunately, 40% of the ones who went through the entire treatment were still categorised as problem gamblers at the time they finished their treatment. Gambling With Lives’ Chief Executive Officer, Will Prochaska, noted that some families, who have been affected by gambling-related harm, had warned that gambling disorder treatment consistently fails to make things better for problem gamblers. He also said this was exactly the reason why the country urgently needed to see the NHS take charge of the situation, instead of a system that is being funded, hence influenced, by the gambling companies.
The research also showed that problem gamblers are usually referred for professional treatment via the National Gambling Helpline rather than via their GP.
- Author
Daniel Williams
