Fears people in Suffolk will turn to gambling to cope with the rising cost of living
The rising costs are putting more pressure on people to be able to afford basic necessities, meaning they are looking for alternative ways to make money.
Last updated 29th Jul 2022
There are fears people in Suffolk will turn to gambling to cope with the rising cost of living.
The rising costs are putting more pressure on people to be able to afford basic necessities, meaning they are looking for alternative ways to make money.
We spoke to Ian Samuel the CEO of Break Even a charity with a branch in Ipswich, that helps those with gambling addictions and their families.
He is warning people about the dangers of gambling.
"They have to be very, very careful because it's about that irrational thought pattern, that gambling is a good way of getting money, but in reality, if you haven't got any disciplinary control, you'll find your debt spiralling.
"And the very thing you're trying to get out of, you will make worse.
"We've seen quite a lot of it in our treatment centres, where people are not only just chasing their losses, they're actually chasing their living.
"We've come out of pandemic, where people were furloughed, not getting the money they were used to and getting laid off.
"We all know what's going on in the news, inflation and everything going up, petrol food in the supermarket.
"So sadly, we're seeing people thinking if they gamble a little bit here and there, that they might be able to make up that money they're losing.
"But gambling is severely not the way to do that because gambling, you know that discipline and control and about being able to afford your losses and it's not a thing to partake in."
We asked if he had seen an increase in people going to Break Even since the cost of living rose.
"One thing we saw since the pandemic is everybody was doing these recordings online, (teams meetings) you know the face to face element, we're getting it back slowly.
"But we spoke to so many people that were working from a screen and while they're working on the screen, they're either gaming or gaming and gaming is very akin to gambling with people are spending money they can't afford to lose to all the microtransactions.
"So it's the same effects of gambling and playing with money that you haven't got, and especially in today's times, people can ill afford to lose money with the cost of living."
We asked Ian whether the current economy could be triggering for ex gamblers.
Yes, for for the vulnerable. And a lot of vulnerable people out there, a lot of different vulnerable ethnic groups, for example, that turned to gambling to escape from normal everyday problems or some trauma, or cost of living.
"However, one thing we do find if you go through treatment, you can recover.
"And we work with hundreds of people who recover and remain gambling free.
"The temptation will always be there, but they're also tools that you can set in place so you can exclude yourself.
"There's lots of good tools on operator sites you can ban yourself from actually gambling on them.
"You can go on a list where you won't be able to gamble at all, so there's lots of good tools out there."
Ian encourages people to reach out to Break Even.
"We're here for people that are affected by problem gambling as well, not just the gambler. So it's free treatment for anybody that's affected by gambling, not just the gambler.
"Come and talk to us because we've got some good tools of strategies and we can help you look at the how, the when and the why it began.