The charity GambleAware, which supports people affected by gambling, has drawn attention to those most vulnerable to stigmatisation.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research, the University of Wolverhampton, Liverpool John Moores University, and Magenta Research.
It comprises four reports: quantitative, qualitative, synthesis, and discourse analysis. The analysis was based on data from online peer support forums, a survey of 3,567 UK residents, interviews with 35 individuals with lived experience of gambling harms, conversations with 24 representatives from groups that work with such individuals, and a discourse analysis of media and public spaces.
According to the new research, women are among the groups at highest risk of facing stigma related to gambling issues, as specialised support for them emerged too late. Additionally, women experience an extra layer of stigma because their experiences do not align with the stereotype of the “typical” male gambler.
Other groups more vulnerable to stigmatisation due to gambling-related harm include: young people, single individuals, parents, members of ethnic minorities, people from religious backgrounds, and those with alcohol or drug dependencies.
Tracy Madlin, who has experience of gambling harms, said: “Gambling harms had a terrible effect on my life for many years. But it was really hard for me to reach out for help because of people not understanding gambling harms and there being a stigma around them.
“This made me worried that I was going to be judged if I opened up. I think things wouldn’t have gotten so bad for me if there hadn’t been that stigma around it and I would have been able to get help earlier.
“It was particularly hard for me as a woman, because women who are experiencing gambling harms are seen differently to men in the same situation. I was a mum and a homemaker, so people saw me in a certain way and wouldn’t have expected that I would have been experiencing gambling harm.
“Even when I did reach out for help, I found that there wasn’t much specifically for women. When I first walked into a fellowship looking for help, there were 54 men, and I was the only woman. Now I help run female-preferred groups, but it’s taken a long time to get this kind of help for women.”
The research project found that in-person gambling was associated with higher experienced stigma than online gambling, likely due to it being “a more visible means of gambling”.
In-person betting on football and gaming machines were associated with relatively high levels of experienced stigma, while playing the National Lottery was the least associated with experiences of stigma.
Some participants with experience of gambling harms felt judged and excluded by their family and friends, felt they lost respect in social circles and experienced long periods of estrangement from loved ones.
This resulted in social exclusion for many impacted by gambling harms to various degrees, from no longer receiving messages from family to not speaking to family for several years, contributing to stress, depression, low mood and poor overall mental health.
Previous research from the charity showed that stigma and shame stopped people who suffered from gambling harms from seeking help, as 28% of people who experience problems with gambling hide their activities from their family and friends, while 24% who experience the most serious harm do not seek support due to shame or embarrassment.
“This research shows the devastating impact stigma can have on people’s lives and their mental health,” commented Zoë Osmond OBE, Chief Executive of GambleAware.
“Gambling harms can affect anyone, so we all need to work to remove some of the myths and misconceptions that lead people to judge or discriminate against people experiencing these harms.
“Stigma and the fear of being judged is a powerful barrier which stops people coming forward to get much-needed help, so we need to minimise it and ensure people can feel able to be open with friends and family and others around them.”
The research project also examined how the general public perceives gambling harms, highlighting that while 90% of people said they would be friends with someone who gambles without issue, the figure drops to 70% when being friends with someone experiencing gambling harms.
In addition, 83% said they would be comfortable working closely with someone who gambled without harm, but the figure declines again to 58% for working with someone experiencing gambling harm.
Research participants felt that the media could do more to change the perception of gambling harms by having more discussions on the variety of harms people who gamble might experience, as well as showing people who have overcome such harms.
However, participants also highlighted how coverage of celebrities sharing their stories of gambling harm in the media helped to raise awareness and understanding of gambling harms in society, reducing stigma.
The gambling industry was also scrutinised for its advertising, as “people with lived experience spoke of being ‘bombarded’ by gambling advertisements, which they felt contributed to stigma” by perceiving gambling as “acceptable, fun and safe”.
The report stated that this contributes to the idea that “most people who gamble do so responsibly, and a few ‘stupid’ individuals are ‘ruining’ it for everyone else”, creating an “us versus them narrative” and leading to the perception of individuals with gambling harms being “a flawed minority”.
Research also suggested that those working in the gambling industry “may be particularly prone to holding stigmatising views about people who experience gambling harms – perhaps due to endorsement of narratives around ‘individual responsibility’ for gambling harms”.
Recommendations on reducing gambling harms stigma were also provided.
This included increasing education on the topic for the public, young people and professionals (such as those working in the NHS or criminal justice system), more employment practices for tackling gambling harm stigma and discrimination, as well as additional research into developing interventions to reduce public and self-stigma.
Educational campaigns were also highlighted to challenge gambling harms stigma beliefs, framing it as a public health issue, emphasising the industry’s responsibility, involving individuals with lived experience in the development and implementation of interventions, as well as avoiding using stigmatising language in public discourse.
Professor Joanne Lloyd, the research project lead at the University of Wolverhampton, noted: “This research demonstrates how detrimental stigma can be for people who experience gambling harms, and highlights how important it is to challenge it.
“We hope that the insights we have gained into how a range of individual and societal factors increase the risk of stigma and associated harm can help direct educational interventions to reduce this harm.”
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