Help available as lockdown leads to rise in online gambling
People being told to stay at home, sometimes with only their computer or smartphone for company. Workers on furlough, suddenly finding themselves with an unexpected amount of time on their hands. For those susceptible to problem gambling, the coronavirus lockdown represents a perfect storm where they are most at risk.
"It's the boredom," says ex-gambling addict Andy Gray. "The boredom and people trying to make extra money if they they find their income is down."
The GambleAware charity has launched a new campaign, with advertising in the regional press, radio and internet, to remind people of the support that is available for people experiencing problems with gambling.
During the first month of the first lockdown in March last year, online virtual sports betting increased by 88 per cent and online poker by 53 per cent compared to the same month the previous year. Of course, not all this would be problem betting, and much will simply be money that would otherwise have been spent on other forms of lockdown.
The Gordon Moody Association, a West Midland-based national charity that helps gambling addicts, reported a three-fold increase in the number of people contacting its helpline more than trebled in May last year. The charity also reported an unprecedented 20-person waiting list for its residential treatment programme
Dominik Batthyany, a psychotherapist and head of the Institute for Behavioural Addiction at the Sigmund Freud University in Vienna, says that for some gambling has become a coping mechanism.
“Many people have lost their jobs, so they sit at home with nothing to do. Add anxiety or conflicts to that, and many will choose gambling as a way to cope,” he says.
