It was 10 years ago that,
not having heard from my brother for several days, I travelled up to London to
find that he had committed suicide; the second member of my family to do so, as
my mother had also taken her own life in 1976.
My brother had
been plagued by depression for many years, and was also an alcoholic, so whilst
it was distressing, there was a sense of inevitability about what happened. I
was very close to my brother but what I was not aware of, until as his next of
kin it was left to me to sort out his affairs and arrange the funeral, was
his gambling addiction. I knew that he liked the odd flutter but had no idea
that he had run up something in the region of £60k of gambling debts, mostly
through online activity, and largely through credit arrangements with
bookmakers.
Earlier this year
I was prompted to start to campaign against the advertising of online gambling
sites, via a petition set up through the organisation 38 Degrees. My reason for
doing this was that over a period of time I had noticed that these sites were
often advertised on TV at a time when vulnerable people would be watching, and
were endorsed by celebrities, which appalled me.
The announcement
this week by the government that they were going to restrict the amount that
people could gamble on fixed term betting sites by lowering the limit from £100
to just £2 is to be welcomed. However, I was disappointed to see that when
the Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, was interviewed it became clear
that there is no plan, or timescale in place, for this to be actioned. Much has
been made of the process of adjusting these terminals to the new lower amount,
but I believe this a a red herring.
What has also not
been considered it that whilst gambling, just like other addictions, such
as drug and alcohol abuse, is a problem in itself, this
destructive behaviour is often a manifestation of other, deeper,
underlying issues. frequently linked to mental health.
Organisations such as
Samaritans and South Somerset MIND take calls on a daily basis from those who
have been affected in such a way, from those who suffer from addiction, and
also their loved ones, for whom it can be equally painful with severe and
far reaching repercussions.
It is this that
we need to address most of all. Yes, these new measures, when they are finally
put into place, will help, but as with other forms of addiction the addicted
gambler will just go elsewhere for their fix.
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