A MidWest addiction counsellor is calling for an immediate halt to the advertising that fuels a secret and devastating habit.
It follows a new report from the ESRI which shows that there has been a ten fold increase problem gambling in just the last four years.
According to the latest survey from the Economic Research and Social Institute, over 400,000 people in the country are now showing some evidence of a gambling addiction.
The last time them think-thank carried out such an analysis was in 2019 and at the time just one in three-hundred adults were considered problem gamblers.
However in the space of just four years, this figure has seen an alarming ten-fold increase to one in thirty.
This equates to roughly 130,000 people in Ireland now suffering from the most severe gambling problem.
Peter Lunn, Head of ESRI’s Behavioural Research Unit, explains how they carried out the survey.
The average spend of problem gamblers is now €1,000 per month, while 35% of those surveyed had engaged in the activity online.
A local addiction Counsellor meanwhile believes the only way to tackle the root of the problem is to introduce an immediate advertising ban across all platforms.
Kevin Hogan from Helplink Mental Health in Galway believes the pitfalls of the devastating habit have become far too easy to hide with modern technology.
You can listen to the full interview below.
