The Addiction Treatment Center Triora Alicante warns about the “worrying increase” of consultations and treatment demands related to compulsive gambling. The expansion of betting parlors and online gambling, especially related to sporting events and promoted with massive advertising campaigns, have promoted the increase of this disease.
Data on gambling in Spain
According to data from the latest Spanish Gambling Yearbook, face-to-face and online sports betting is the form of gambling that has grown the most in Spain. Exactly, 387%, from 2012 to 2017, according to the figures of the Spanish gambling market published by the General Directorate of Gambling Regulation, under the Ministry of Finance; these data reveal that online gambling in our country has gone, in five years, from generating €2,805 million in activity to more than €13,000 million.
In the case of the Valencian Community, a recent report published by the Generalitat points out that in the third quarter of this year Valencians have spent almost €82 million on betting, which is a new record since data referring to gambling began to be recorded in 2014.
Likewise, the trend indicates that more than half of young people have gambled on some occasion, via online or in person, and 10% of them have done so at least once a month.
The increase in pathological gambling
Joaquín Descals, psychiatrist and medical director of the Triora Alicante Center, pointed out that “this increase in the offer and accessibility of gambling inevitably leads to an increase in the number of people who make excessive use of it and even develop a complete addiction such as compulsive gambling.
Gambling addiction has been recognized as a disease by the World Health Organization since 1992.
In fact, in Triora, consultations related to gambling, both in betting parlors and online gambling, have tripled in the last year. These data show the current degree of affection of this pathological gambling addiction, whose profile of new patients is in the average age of 25 years old.
The expert medical psychiatrist of Triora Alicante stressed that “the vulnerability of young people is especially worrying, as they find gambling establishments close to their schools and institutes, in addition to the ease of betting through cell phones, which almost everyone has, and the bombardment of betting house advertising, often aimed directly at them, in all sporting events.
This has led to the starting age for gambling dropping to 15 years of age, with repeat betting in 70% of cases”.
Hence, Joaquín Descals, has appealed to families to be well informed of the risks related to these practices. In case of detecting the first symptoms (such as unjustified expenses or income, sudden changes in behavior or mood and sudden drop in academic performance), it is recommended to go to a professional or specialized center to determine if there is a problem, and intervene in the early stages of the same, if necessary.
On the other hand, the Triora Group wanted to express its concern about the extension of this problem “which requires strict regulation to limit both advertising and ease of access, both directly on the street and online through cell phones and the Internet, to an addictive activity that generates serious health, economic and social damage”.
About Triora Group
The Triora Group, with clinics in Spain (Alicante, Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona), specializes in the treatment and rehabilitation of people with disorders related to substance use and pathological behaviors such as addictions to new technologies and gambling.
The clinics are characterized by medical-therapeutic excellence and have a multidisciplinary team of highly specialized professionals, made up of doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, educators and health assistants with extensive experience in all phases of detoxification, detoxification and rehabilitation of patients.
Triora Adicciones applies an innovative model of comprehensive treatment that addresses the fundamental pillars of a person’s wellbeing: body, mind and values. The treatment, on an outpatient or inpatient basis, aims to rehabilitate the addiction while finding the meaning of life.
The care and control of patients is permanent and individualized, with daily therapies, 24-hour health care and support work with families.
The Triora Group is part of Parnassia Group, Europe’s leading mental health company with more than 185,000 patients treated in 2018 through its specialized professionals and has addiction treatment clinics in Spain and the Netherlands.