Gambling Problem Scotland

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Information gained from the Gambling Commission highlighted that several individuals in Scotland responded to their survey and were subsequently identified as having a gambling problem. The Gambling Commission found that there was a wider pool of respondents with a determined low risk of developing gambling debts in Scotland. About Gamblers Anonymous Scotland GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from a gambling problem. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop gambling. Despite heightened awareness of the devastating effects of problem gambling, there is some uncertainty over whether the numbers of pathological gamblers are rising. The British gambling prevalence. Gambling in Scotland: Betting shops down but stakes remain high The number of high street bookmakers in Scotland has fallen as independent firms are squeezed out by bigger chains and more punters.

Medically reviewed:06/22/2018
Last updated: 04/17/2020
Author: Addictions.com Medical Review

Reading Time: 7minutes

What is Gambling Addiction?

Gambling addiction or gambling disorder is defined as persistent and recurring problematic gambling behavior that causes distress and impairs your overall livelihood. Gambling addiction affects roughly 0.2% to 0.3% of the general U.S. population, and tends to affects males more than females, though this gender gap has narrowed in recent years. Gambling disorder is a behavioral addiction that can be effectively treated using a range of cognitive and behavioral therapies.

The desire to buy scratch tickets, play slot machines, and visit casinos aren’t necessarily signs of gambling addiction. But when the desire to gamble becomes overwhelming to the point you can’t stop thinking about it until you gamble on something, may be a sign you need help. Those who suffer from gambling addiction will continue to gamble despite negative financial, legal, and social consequences.

Gambling disorder is a brain disease that can cause you to do things you wouldn’t normally do if you weren’t suffering from addiction. Behavioral addictions like gambling disorder are often difficult to manage and control without getting professional help. Addiction treatment centers can help you overcome gambling addiction and teach you important skills aimed at helping you repair problems in your life caused by your disorder.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Gambling Addiction?

There are no physical health symptoms associated with gambling disorder. Familiarizing yourself with common gambling addiction behaviors can clue you into whether you or a loved one may need professional help.

Chasing after losses is the most common tell-tale sign of gambling disorder. This particular symptom is marked by the urgent need to continue gambling to earn back a loss or series of losses. Individuals diagnosed with gambling disorder may abandon their usual gambling strategies to win back all losses at once and may lie to family, friends, and therapists to hide the severity of their addiction.

The following behaviors are potential signs of gambling addiction:

Needing to gamble using increasing amounts of money to achieve the desired rush and excitement.
Feeling restless or irritable when trying to reduce or stop gambling.
Inability to control, reduce, or quit gambling despite numerous repeated attempts.
Preoccupation with gambling, such as devising ways to get more gambling money and reliving past gambling experiences.
Gambling when experiencing feelings of distress, helplessness, guilt, anxiety, and depression.
Chasing after your losses to get even after losing money gambling.
Lying to conceal the severity of gambling behaviors, and the addiction.
Loss of personal relationships, job, and educational pursuits due to gambling.
Replying on others to provide money to resolve financial situations caused by gambling, such as a threat of eviction from the home.

Those with a mild gambling addiction may exhibit between four and five of these behaviors, while those with a moderately severe gambling addiction may exhibit six to seven of these behaviors. People who suffer from severe gambling addiction will usually exhibit all nine behaviors. Moderate to severe cases of gambling disorder tend to be more common than mild cases.

If you or someone you love is addicted, call our helpline toll-free at 800-926-9037 to speak with a caring treatment specialist that can help you get sober. Who Answers?

You might have a gambling problem if:

You feel compelled to keep gambling until you’ve spent your last dollar. You may keep bidding until you’ve spent everything to win your money back, or you continue increasing bet amounts.
You hide your gambling from friends or family members. You may sneak off to gamble without telling anyone, or lie about your gambling activities.
You spend money you don’t have on gambling. You may use money intended for important bills like rent, mortgage, car payments, credit card bills, and other expenses for gambling.
You steal from others or sell your possessions so you can gamble. You may steal money or belongings from others so you can gamble, or sell or pawn valuable possessions like musical instruments and vehicles to obtain more gambling money.
You prioritize gambling over obligations related to work, school, family. You may stop going to work or school so you can gamble, or stop buying household necessities so you can use the money for gambling instead.
You’re experiencing financial hardships due to gambling. You may have lost your home, car, job, and important personal possessions due to gambling.
You’re facing a range of negative emotions triggered by gambling. Gambling may be a serious problem in your life if it’s triggering depression, anxiety, frustration, agitation, and remorse.
You want to stop gambling but can’t. You have tried to stop gambling but can’t seem to stop despite your desire to do better and to stop gambling.

Negative Effects of Gambling Addiction

Gambling addiction can produce many more negative effects than just financial hardship. Gambling disorder can affect your physical health, mental health, and social functioning, and lead to the loss of important relationships with friends and loved ones. You may also suffer a decline in work or school performance, and feel more restless and bored with all other areas of life that don’t involve gambling.

Those who suffer from gambling addiction tend to suffer from higher rates of poor general health than those who don’t gamble. Tachycardia and angina are common health problems among those diagnosed with gambling addiction. Many who suffer from gambling disorder also tend to experience distortions in thinking surrounding their addiction, such as superstitions, overconfidence, and a sense of power over the outcome of chance events. Nearly 50% of those receiving treatment for gambling disorder experience suicidal ideation, while an estimated 17% have tried to commit suicide.

The negative effects of problem gambling include:

Financial problems including high debt, poverty, or bankruptcy
Domestic violence and child abuse in families
Suicidal thoughts, attempts, or the act of suicide
Legal troubles, including arrests for theft or prostitution
Behavior problems in children of problem gamblers
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders
Loss of relationships with friends and family
A decline in performance at work or school
Suicide and death
A risk for drug or alcohol abuse

How Does Gambling Addiction Interact with Addiction?

Alcohol and cocaine are the two most common substances associated with gambling and binge gambling, respectively. Alcohol is legally available in most gambling settings such as bars and casinos and is often rewarded to gamblers for free at many of these establishments. Roughly 44% of people with gambling disorder in the U.S. also suffer from an alcohol use disorder.

Binge gambling is defined as intermittent episodes of uncontrolled gambling after long periods of abstinence. For instance, a person who practices binge gambling may only visit the casino five times per year but gamble non-stop for long periods during their stay. Cocaine use tends to be common among these gamblers since it produces stimulating effects of increased energy, alertness, focus, concentration, and confidence.

Individuals with gambling disorders tend to suffer higher rates of co-occurring alcohol and drug use disorders compared to their peers. Gambling often takes place in environments that enable and encourage alcohol and drug use. Gambling can also trigger mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, which many may self-treat using alcohol and drugs like marijuana, painkillers, and other addictive substances.

How Are Gambling Addiction and Substance Use Treated?

Gambling addiction is commonly treated using cognitive and behavioral therapies that treat the root psychological causes of your addiction. These therapies also help you identify and change negative, unhealthy thoughts and behaviors that may have led to your gambling addiction. Treatments for gambling addiction can be tailored especially for you or your loved one based on the factors surrounding your disorder.

Gambling addiction can also be treated using community reinforcement, group therapy, and 12-step support groups like Gamblers Anonymous. These treatments help you identify your triggers that can lead to gambling and teach you ways to overcome and manage those triggers. For instance, if a stressful day at work usually makes you feel like gambling, you may learn yoga, deep breathing, or other healthy methods that relieve stress without putting your health and well-being at risk.

Gambling Addiction Help

If you or someone you love needs treatment for gambling addiction, it’s important that you use a treatment approach that best suits your recovery needs. Gambling addiction treatment is available in many different settings, including inpatient and outpatient treatment settings.

If you or someone you love is addicted, call our helpline toll-free at 800-926-9037 to speak with a caring treatment specialist that can help you get sober. Who Answers?

Inpatient gambling addiction treatment can greatly benefit those who suffer from severe gambling disorder, and who have suffered severe financial, legal, or social problems. Inpatient treatment includes around-the-clock supervision in a hospital-like setting where you can live for the duration of your treatment program. The intense level of therapy, counseling, and supervision provided by inpatient treatment centers can help significantly reduce the risk of relapse while in recovery.

Compulsive gamblers often need support from friends, family members, and peers to help them stop gambling. Gamblers Anonymous groups can provide peer and social support for those in recovery or for those who wish they can stop gambling. These groups can provide a solid, healthy foundation for a successful and long-term recovery from gambling addiction.

Here’s how to help a family member or loved one suffering from a gambling addiction:

Understand the addiction. The first thing you can do to help a loved one who is addicted to gambling is to learn all you can about the addiction. Find a support group that can help you cope with the stress that comes from having a loved one who is addicted to gambling.
Find support. Support for yourself and for your loved one who is addicted can be very beneficial in helping with a gambling addiction. Many support groups are available throughout communities and in treatment centers. Therapists and counselors can also provide support for gambling addiction.
Manage money tightly. If your loved one is addicted to gambling and is actively pursuing help, take over managing all financial responsibilities for your loved one. This can help reduce any gambling impulses your loved one may be experiencing throughout their recovery.

If you’re worried about your gambling or someone else’s, there are places you can go for support.

If you’re struggling with debt

Start dealing with your debts as soon as you can, as well as getting help to stop gambling. Our debt advice will help you:

work out which debts to deal with first
find specialist help, if you need it

Find out how to start dealing with your debts.

If you want to stop gambling, the best thing to do is add your name to a list of people gambling companies aren’t allowed to serve. This is called 'self excluding' yourself - find out more about self exclusion on the GambleAware website.

If you’d like to talk to someone about your problem, you can:

talk to an adviser by phone or through live chat from the National Gambling Treatment Service, a gambling charity
go to Gamblers Anonymous Scotland meetings for group support

You can also:

find out more about support you can get on the GamCare website

find more strategies to stop yourself gambling on the Gambling Commission website
download the free Gambling Therapy app - it’s a collection of strategies to help with gambling addiction

If you haven’t been paying your rent or mortgage

You should contact your landlord or mortgage lender as soon as possible - it can be tough, but if you ignore their warnings you could lose your home.

You can find out what action to take about rent arrears or what to say to your mortgage lender if you can't pay them back straight away.

If you’re worried about your partner’s gambling

You can’t be held responsible for any debts in your partner’s name.

If your partner has taken out debts in your name without you knowing, it’s fraud. You aren’t responsible for paying these back, but you’d have to report the fraud to the police.

You should keep an eye on your finances - your partner could be hiding the scale of the problem from you. If you’re not sure how to approach the situation you can talk to an adviser from GamCare.

If you have a joint credit card or loan with your partner

You’ll be responsible for those debts. Your credit rating can also be affected by your partner’s actions, because you have a financial link to them.

There are steps you can take to get on top of credit card and loan debts

If you have a joint benefit claim and your partner gets the money

You might be able to split the payments so your partner can’t gamble with your money.

You’ll need to ask the people who pay your benefits and explain the situation. You can contact them using the details on any letters or emails you’ve got about your benefits.

In Scotland, you can ask for some of your Universal Credit to be paid directly to your landlord.

If you own your home jointly with your partner

If debts secured against your home go unpaid, like your mortgage, the lender could decide to sell it to recover the money that's owed - this is called repossession. If debts aren't secured against your home, they could try to stop you selling it - this is called inhibition.

There's action you or your partner can take to try to stop this happening, like dealing with your mortgage arrears or challenging the lender's action in court. You could contact the lenders your partner owes money to. Explain the situation to them and tell them what your partner is doing to tackle the problem.

If you're worried about losing your home or you have any letters from lenders or the court, you don't have to deal with it alone. Get help from a specialist money adviser at your local Citizens Advice bureau.

If you were allowed to gamble when you shouldn’t have