A new study by Swansea University has delved deeper into the possible connection between gambling disorders and higher suicide rates in people experiencing gambling-related harm, compared to the general population.

Suicide is Higher among People with Gambling Disorder

The research published in BJPsych Open is the first comprehensive study leveraging extensive NHS data to look into the specific issue and try to determine how much worse off people who experience gambling-related harm are when it comes to end-of-life decisions.

The study tapped into over 30 years of data, between 1993 and 2023, using a good historical sample as well as cases involving more recently affected people. Researchers compared 92 people who died by suicide and experienced a gambling disorder to 2,990 other individuals who died from other causes.

Director of the Gambling Research, Education and Treatment Center at Swansea University, Professor Simon Daymond, had this to say, presenting the results of the study:

“Almost half of adults worldwide report gambling activity in the past year, and gambling-related harm is a growing global health concern. Yet, until now, no study has examined the association between gambling diagnoses and mental health service use in the months preceding death by suicide.”

The study established that people who were suffering from a gambling-related disorder and died by suicide had had frequent contacts with healthcare professionals, including hospital admissions. In other words, Professor Daymond argues, this could be an early marker of a more fundamental problem underneath, and one that can be addressed so that the worst outcome is avoided.

Gambling disorders are usually a good predictor of a person’s chance of committing suicide, and more so than other mental health conditions, such as depression, alcohol abuse, or schizophrenia, for example, highlighting the importance of treating the issue seriously.

Hospital Admissions and Contacts with Healthcare Professionals: Early Indicators

“A gambling diagnosis was a stronger predictor of suicide than other mental health conditions, such as depression, schizophrenia, or alcohol use – indicating gambling disorder poses a unique risk. Importantly, help-seeking rates for gambling are persistently low, and now everyone who needs help gets a diagnosis, so the patterns we observed in the study are a likely underestimate of the scale of the harm caused by gambling and its association with suicide,” the professor added.

What is more important, Professor Daymond claims, is that suicide risk can be identified by looking at linked healthcare records. This could create opportunities for early intervention and help save lives in the long term, he adds.