Pink probes compulsive gambling

Gambling is a disorder that is not as easily recognisable as drinking and drug addiction and most victims fail to seek help.

According to Sedqa's Biennial Report 2005-2006, new referrals more than doubled in one year. The extraordinary rise in demand for help could be due to the services becoming known through word of mouth, the effects of media exposure and, possibly, an increase in the number of problem gamblers.

The report says it appears probable that the rising trend will continue in the years to come.

Pink's June issue, which is out with The Times tomorrow, delves deep into the matter, hitting it from every angle. Its InFocus feature finds that, in 2005, almost 26 per cent of those referred to Sedqa, the national agency for drug and alcohol abuse, were females, while in 2006, the figure shot up to 38 per cent. In 2007, the trend experienced in 2006 was maintained.

It is not known to what extent these figures represent the reality of the gender difference in problem gambling in Malta. However, they seem to confirm the common-sense impression that excessive gambling among females makes up a substantial element of the problem gambling scene on the island, the report points out.

In a matter of one year, there has been a 100-per-cent increase in the number of clients seeking help for compulsive gambling, according to the psychologist interviewed in the article. Clients in Malta increased markedly by 100 per cent in 2006, compared to 2005. Referrals last year were roughly the same as 2006 and indications for this year show that they will probably be on the same statistical percentage as the last two years.

Pink's gambling story goes behind the scenes into the mushrooming, dark, gaming arcades and to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, where reforming gamblers, including an ex-nun, tell their harrowing tales of a debilitating addiction that is largely underestimated but has far-reaching effects and multiple problems, including debt and theft.

Pink is a monthly magazine, whose executive editors are The Times journalists Fiona Galea Debono and Ariadne Massa. It is published by Allied Newspapers Ltd, printed by Progress Press Ltd, produced by MediaMaker and designed by Helen Cassar Torreggiani and Joseph Schembri.