A person losing their home and/or their life is nothing new when problem gambling raises its ugly head, but what is different these days is who it happens to and what type of gambling causes the problems.
The following short video clip (64 seconds) outlines how attendees at Gamblers Anonymous meetings might have changed.
However, ‘who and how’ are only two aspects. We also need to consider the greater promotion and availability of gambling, and that suicide and problem gambling rates, unsurprisingly, are not going down.
There is a lot of PR surrounding the issue of problem gambling, but does reality really live up to the PR. Talk to betting shop staff who have left in disgust at being forced to promote heavily the forms of gambling known to cause most harm and you’ll find out. Staff bonuses are often linked to the promotion of the most harmful products. Umm…………………. This does not balance with the message of ‘responsible gambling’.
