The Tragic Link Between Gambling and Suicide

The Tragic Link Between Gambling and Suicide

The coroner in the Australian state of Victoria created a stir recently when he released a report that linked almost 130 suicides that had occurred in his bailiwick over a 12-year period to gambling addiction. This revelation adds context to an earlier 2010 study that found one in five suicidal hospital patients in Victoria was a problem gambler who had been driven to despair by the inability to overcome compulsive habits.


The Victorian coroner’s public acknowledgement and discussion of the issue is a bit unusual, but the relationship between compulsive gambling and suicide knows no borders. The U.S. National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) has reported that approximately 20 percent of all pathological gamblers in this country will attempt suicide at some point, and that is the highest suicide rate found with any addictive disorder. At present, while most adults who gamble do so responsibly, NCPG estimates approximately 2 million people meet the criteria for pathological gambling in a given year and another 4 to 6 million would be considered problem gamblers.  If the numbers are correct, that means 400,000 individuals may eventually become so desperate and despondent that they will attempt to take their own lives — and in many cases they will succeed. Meanwhile, experts estimate that Australia has about 500,000 compulsive or near-compulsive gamblers, meaning that as many as 100,000 Australian families could be at risk of losing their loved ones to suicide if nothing is done to alter the equation.

The sudden proliferation of poker machines has been blamed for fueling the current level of problem gambling in Victoria; in 2012 state residents spent about $2.5 billion on the 26,000 machines that can be found at various gambling-friendly venues around the state. According to figures released by the U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission, whenever a new casino opens up, the number of compulsive gamblers living within 50 miles of its location can soon be expected to double, so there is no doubt that expanding legalized gambling options can and will increase the number of gambling addicts, as easy exposure to games of chance will inevitably capture the attention of many people who were formerly immune to gambling’s powerful gravitational pull.

The Business of Gambling Addiction

The government in Victoria deserves some credit for funding research into the connection between gambling addiction and suicidal thoughts and actions. In addition to calling attention to this particular problem they have also taken a few other concrete measures to curb compulsive gambling behavior, such as banning ATMs from all gambling establishments. However, under pressure from lobbyists associated with the gambling clubs and poker machine distributors, the new Victorian ruling coalition that took power in August has backed off on some of its earlier promises to regulate gambling operations more strictly, and it generated howls of protest when it announced that it would eventually hand over its regulatory authority to an advisory council made up entirely of gambling industry representatives.

Despite good intentions, there will always be conflicts of interest for government bodies charged with regulating gambling activities. In part this is because the gambling industry rakes in huge profits and can use its financial means to buy influence in a number of ways. And, of course, governments strapped for cash have begun tapping the gambling well directly, sponsoring lotteries to pay for special projects and expanding legalized gambling in order to increase tax revenues.

Gambling addicts are obviously responsible for a disproportionate share of the profits that governments, casinos, legal bookmakers, lottery retailers and other licensed gaming operators are accumulating, so it is probably unreasonable to expect federal and state regulators to put the interests of problem gamblers ahead of the collective interests of a money-making industry that governments themselves have come to depend on. Gambling addiction means big profits for the service provider and the tax collector, and that may predispose a lukewarm response to the problem from those in charge of looking out for the public good.

Failure Is Not an Option

Treatment for gambling addiction is effective, but it is not as widely available as might be expected, especially considering more and more statistical analysis is showing that out-of-control gambling is putting a tremendous strain on the criminal justice and health care systems. This is because problem gamblers often turn to crime to support their habits, and they also suffer from serious stress-related physical ailments at elevated rates in comparison to the general population.

For various reasons (political conflicts of interest, the rapid spread of Internet gambling, the widespread belief that gambling is a “victimless crime,” lack of money and manpower to effectively regulate, etc.) prohibition is no longer a realistic option for controlling gambling and the compulsive wagering behavior that so often accompanies it.

Public awareness and the ready availability of treatment are the best tools we have to fight gambling addiction at present. And if we are serious about severing the tragic connection between gambling and suicide, we should be encouraging those in control of the public purse strings to support these types of interventions as an alternative to the failed law enforcement-based strategies of the past.


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