‘It’s a hidden addiction’: Psychologist warns of rise in online gambling during Covid-19 lockdown in Leeds – Yorkshire Post

NewsA psychologist who works with gambling addicts in Leeds says more needs to be done to tackle the problem which will have worsened under lockdown.

Saturday, 9th May 2020, 6:00 am

Matthew Gaskell from the Northern Gambling Service says a public health approach at government level is the most effective way of tackling what he has branded the hidden addiction.

It comes just days after the UK's biggest gambling firms agreed to remove all TV and radio advertising for games and products during the coronavirus lockdown, and, after the Government wrote to firms asking them to provide regular updates on how they are tackling problem gambling during the lockdown.

Around 30,000 people have a problem gambling addiction in Leeds, latest figures show, and a study by Leeds Beckett University revealed that the city has potentially twice the national average rate of addiction.

Mr Gaskell said it was difficult to get an accurate picture of the situation as there had been no national prevention service since 2010 and researchers were working behind the scenes to conduct a proper survey.

The statistics from Leeds Beckett, which were compiled in 2016, say seven to eight per cent of people in Leeds are classed as problem or at risk gamblers compared to the national average of five to six per cent.

And times such as the coronavirus lockdown and the far-reaching consequences have left people vulnerable and more likely to turn to gambling.

Mr Gaskell explains: Problems with pandemic conditions have a number of risk factors for people. They want to get out of financial problems, there is job insecurity, there is confinement, stress, sometimes there is conflict at home and online gambling is available 24/7.

The way people are gambling is different under the current conditions but when betting shops reopen and sports betting recommences, with football and horse-racing for example, he expects that numbers of people gambling and needing to seek help will spike.

He said: It is quite a complex picture from the data we have got so far. Because there is no land-based sports betting, it means overall gambling rates and revenue have reduced under the pandemic. People that have problems with online gambling, slot machines and casino games, I know that these people are betting and gambling at the same, if not higher, rates.

These are the people that we are worried about. It takes time for harm to develop. People who come to us are a bit further ahead but we expect those gambling online to be more likely to seek help once lockdown is finished.

Although appointments with people already accessing treatment for gambling addiction are continuing via phone or video call, new calls to gambling addiction services across the region are down - which is also being attributed to lockdown and confinement in homes.

The rates of people accessing help are also disproportionate to the extent of the numbers of people who have a gambling addiction, the psychologist warned.

Mr Gaskell said: Calls to treatment clinics and referrals are down and that is the same across other treatment services as well as third sector services.

That is partly because some are unavailable and because people are in their own homes and dont have the privacy to come forward with these problems. Gambling is the hidden addiction.

We have a real problem with treatment prevention. Two per cent (of people with a gambling addiction) are in the treatment system. That needs to be sorted out, we need to encourage people to come forward earlier and to seek the help that is there.

It is so easy to keep it hidden. Drink and drug addiction are more obvious to people around you and gets in the way of functioning. You can have a fairly significant problem and keep functioning and keep it hidden from those closer to you.

The recent playing down of gambling adverts and the banning of credit cards to fund gambling last month shows there is a pressure on the government to address gambling problems but is that enough?

Mr Gaskell added: The gambling industry is worth 151bn a year. There are very sophisticated groups lobbying the government but we need the government to step forward and review the Gambling Act and change the rules and regulations to protect the young and vulnerable.

It is political, the industry is very powerful but we were in this position with tobacco advertising and we have been able to get that off the television and follow a public health approach. That is what is needed with gambling.

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Original post:

'It's a hidden addiction': Psychologist warns of rise in online gambling during Covid-19 lockdown in Leeds - Yorkshire Post