Concern has been raised about a possible relationship between problem gambling and suicidality, but relatively few studies have examined this. This report aims to establish whether problem gambling and suicidatily are associated. For this report, the researchers analyzed data form the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS), the most recent general population survey measuring both suicidality and problem gambling.
Among problem gamblers, one in five had thought about suicide (19.2%)and one in twenty (4.7%) had made a suicide attempt in the past year. These rates are far higher than those for at-risk gamblers (4.9% and 1.2%) and those with no signs of problem gambling (4.1% and 0.6%). People with problem gambling reported many other adversities, such as poor mental health, substance dependence, and homelessness, but even after accounting for these the association between problem gambling and suicidal thoughts/attempts remained strong.
The results show that problem gamblers are a vulnerable group who are more likely than others to have suicidal thoughts and to harm themselves, warranting targeted support and further investigation.
This report is part of a three-report series on gambling and suicide in England. The other reports and an executive summary of all three reports are linked below.
