Professional Help-Seeking for Gambling Problems: Awareness, Barriers and Motivators for Treatment

Abstract

Despite the negative consequences associated with gambling, few problem gamblers seek professional help. This study aimed to examine awareness of professional sources of help and help-seeking behaviour amongst regular and problem gamblers. Australian gamblers (N = 730) were recruited from the general population, multicultural gambling venues, and gambling helplines and treatment services. Surveys measured awareness of professional help services, help-seeking behaviour and motivators and barriers to seeking help. Gamblers demonstrated low awareness of professional help services. Problem gamblers born in Australia or who were divorced were more likely to seek help. Problem gamblers who were reluctant to seek help due to a desire solve the problem on their own and feeling ashamed for themselves or their family pride were more likely to have overcome these barriers to seek help. However, significant barriers related to denial of problem severity and concerns about the ability to access low cost services that cater for multicultural populations predicted a lower likelihood of having sought help. Public education should aim to de-mystify the treatment process and educate gamblers about symptoms of problem gambling to reduce shame, stigma, and denial and encourage help-seeking. Ongoing education and promotion of help services is required to increase awareness of the resources available, including targeted promotions to increase awareness of relevant services among specific populations.

Perceived stigma and self-stigma of problem gambling: perspectives of people with gambling problems

“…Deep shame was a near universal emotion amongst participants with self-stigmatizing beliefs, prompting secrecy as the main coping mechanism (Link et al, 2004) to preserve a (problem-free) social and subjective identity (Goffman, 1963). The findings confirmed that perceived and self-stigma are major barriers to seeking help for problem gambling (Gainsbury et al, 2014;Hodgins & el-Guebaly, 2000;Rockloff & Schofield, 2004;Tavares et al, 2002).…”

“…This is surprising, given that stigma and shame have been identified as major barriers to help-seeking for problem gambling (Gainsbury, Hing, & Suhonen, 2014;Hodgins & el-Guebaly, 2000;Pulford et al, 2009;Rockloff & Schofield, 2004;Tavares, Martins, Zilberman, & el-Guebaly, 2002). At the time of writing, only five peer-reviewed publications have focused specifically on problem gambling stigma: a review identifying numerous gaps in knowledge and future research directions (Hing, Holdsworth, Tiyce, & Breen, 2014) and four empirical studies, all with samples restricted to university students (Dhillon, Horch, & Hodgins, 2011;Feldman & Crandall, 2007;Horch & Hodgins, 2008.…”

Financial recovery from problem gambling: problem gamblers’ experiences of social assistance and other financial support

“…For many problem gamblers, the primary motives for seeking help are the financial problems and concerns (Gainsbury, Hing, & Suhonen, 2014;Hodgins & el-Guebaly, 2000;Pulford et al, 2009). Anderson, Dobbie and Reith (2009) found that during realization and acceptance of problem gambling, the issue of money is important: in their study, a change in behaviour was triggered through mundane, money-related situations together with growing self-awareness of the amounts of money that was spent on gambling.…”

Être passionné un peu, beaucoup, énormément? Le concept de la passion chez les joueurs de poker, une étude qualitative.

“…Ces résultats pourraient avoir des implications tant au niveau de l'intervention auprès des joueurs pathologiques et à risque que de la prévention. Bien que lors des entrevues qualitatives les joueurs ont semblé vouloir être entendus dans leur expérience en abordant ce qu'ils aimaient, la manière dont ils intégraient le poker à leur vie et les stratégies mises en place pour préserver un équilibre, la littérature rapporte que les joueurs à risque ou problématiques sont réticents à venir en traitement (Gainsbury, Hing et Suhonen, 2014). Selon une étude réalisée auprès de plus de 2 000 adultes australiens, bien que 24 % aient révélé être préoccupés par leurs comportements de jeu et pourraient avoir besoin d'aide, seulement 17 % d'entre eux ont eu accès à des services (Davidson et Rodgers, 2010).…”