Asia's DIY Gambling Addiction Guide

Online guide features DIY checklist to help spot gambling habit
PLACING bets I can’t afford? Check. Spending all my family’s money on gambling? Check.

A new online guide could prove the best bet for those who like a flutter but are worried they might be getting addicted.

The site features a do-it-yourself checklist to help alert people at risk of problem gambling. It also gives them tips on how to stay away from temptation and restrict their access to cash.

The workbook was released on Tuesday by the Institute of Mental Health’s National Addictions Management Service (NAMS).

It has a calculator that balances gamblers’ salaries against their expenses, to see whether they are spending beyond their means.

NAMS psychologist Lawrence Tan said the site – www.nams.sg/workbook – could provide a first step for those who have yet to come to terms with their gambling problems.

“For people who use gambling as a way to cope with difficult emotions, it could be frightening to admit they have a gambling problem because it would mean that they have to give up gambling, which they are not ready to do,” he said.

But Tan added that online help schemes like these were “not meant to replace traditional modes of treatment”.

NAMS has been dealing with a rising number of gambling addiction cases.

In 2010, 259 new patients turned up seeking treatment, up from 217 the year before.

Chan Boon Huat, who heads volunteer management and programmes at One Hope Centre, believes the online guide will be of more use to concerned family members than to gamblers themselves.

“Gamblers will not get help until they’ve hit rock bottom, and that’s when they’ve run out of money and feel helpless,” he said.

“When that happens, they won’t go online to look for answers. Most would turn to their family.

“But the guide is useful for families to prompt the gambler to get treatment. Any help they can get is good.”

A recovering problem gambler, who wanted to be known only as Tan, said the guide would help make people more aware of where they could go to for help.

The 64-year-old technician said he spent nearly a decade struggling with an addiction to 4-D before turning to NAMS for help after a relapse three years ago.

“Having the website will be good because many people still don’t know where to get help,” he said.

“They turn to illegal places to solve their money problems, like illegal moneylenders, and that’s very dangerous.”

NAMS is also officially launching its outreach programme for relatives of problem gamblers called Families in Recovery through Education and Empowerment.

Pilot sessions held from May 2010 to January this year were attended by 195 people.

The National Council on Problem Gambling has been stepping up its efforts to make help available to addicts’ families. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network