Screening for gambling-related harm: Scholarly commentary addictive behaviors

It has been surmised that there are approximately 1.6 million adults in England alone who may benefit from some type of support in relation to harmful gambling. Harmful gambling is a public health issue linked to psychological comorbidity, poor mental and physical health, and high levels of suicidality, and there is pressing need for initiatives and opportunities to identify gambling related harms before crisis level is reached.Harmful gambling is a term recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to mean gambling of any frequency that causes harm, problems or distress for the person.

People experiencing harmful gambling are shown to be high users of health services and support services, despite low levels of help-seeking behaviour for gambling itself, which can often be ‘crisis driven’ (i.e. only seeking help after experiencing severe harms like a suicide attempt). This leads to overutilisation and unnecessary burden on such services, addressing a symptom of the disorder (e.g., depression), rather than addressing the underlying cause (i.e., the harmful gambling). Consequently, support services such as healthcare services, third sector organisations and the criminal justice system are well placed to provide secondary prevention initiatives (i.e., routine screening/referral to treatment) for harmful gambling, before the individual reaches crisis point. The commentary highlights where secondary prevention initiatives can be placed.