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Understanding gambling addiction is the first step towards dealing with it. The articles here explain what compulsive gambling is, the signs of gambling addiction to watch for and how a gambling problem develops over time. You will learn about the causes, the stages and the different types of gambling addiction and the effect it can have on mental health and the people around you.
Gambling harm is the damage gambling causes to the person gambling and to the people around them. Gambling harm can impact money, mental health, relationships and work, and it can affect a whole family, not just the individual. Over the past few decades, the way this harm is understood has changed, from something treated as […]
A gambling addiction, known clinically as gambling disorder, is a recognized health condition where a person loses control of their gambling and keeps going despite the harm it causes. The signs of a gambling addiction fall into three areas: behavior and mood, relationships and secrecy, and money. The clearest warning signs include chasing losses to […]
A gambling addiction rarely announces itself. It often starts with gambling that feels manageable, then quietly takes more time, more money and more headspace until it has shaped most of a person’s day. The clearest signs are gambling with money meant for essentials, chasing losses with bigger bets, hiding the extent of it from people close to you, and feeling restless or low when you try to stop. It is sometimes called the hidden addiction because so much of it happens privately, online or behind closed doors, and many people carry it for years before asking for help.
Gambling addiction and mental health are closely linked, and one usually makes the other worse. Of the people who came to Gordon Moody for treatment in 2021/22, 62% were struggling with emotional or mental health issues and 45% had experienced suicidal thoughts. Research suggests mood and anxiety disorders are around three times more common in people with a gambling addiction than in the general population. The relationship runs both ways: gambling can be a way of escaping difficult feelings and the financial, relationship and personal damage it causes deepens those feelings over time.