Suicide and gambling addiction: Access to betting accounts seen as key to prevention

A recent study found that gambling was mentioned by the coroner when investigating a number of deaths by suicide.

GETTING ACCESS TO the online betting accounts of people who experienced problem gambling prior to their death could help others who have a gambling addiction, researchers have said.

Gambling was identified in the coroner files of 23 deaths by suicide in Ireland over a six-year period, according to the results of the first national study to investigate links between suicide and gambling.

The study was published at the end of January by the Institute of Public Health (IPH), the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention and Health Research Board.

The research analysed 3,625 deaths by probable suicide recorded by coroners throughout Ireland between 2015 and 2020. Satistics from the Irish Probable Suicide Death Study were searched to identify all deaths where gambling was noted by the coroner.

The study found that gambling was documented in 23 (0.6%) of all deaths by probable suicide recorded during this six-year period. Most of the deaths mentioning gambling were among men (91%) and the mean age was 38.7 years.

The authors of the study note that “numerous socioeconomic factors, interpersonal issues, and mental health conditions including addiction were also present at the time of death”.

‘Not seen as an addiction’

Dr Ciara Reynolds from the IPH, lead author of the study, said more research is needed in this area but the findings still give valuable insights.

Speaking to The Journal, Reynolds said gambling can have a hugely negative impact on people’s lives and relationships, but “isn’t always seen as an addiction”.

“It’s highly stigmatised. And I think because it’s not something that’s ingested or inhaled – it doesn’t actually enter the body – it’s not always something that people consider an addiction, when it is.”

“These findings could inform the regulation of gambling, and policies on suicide prevention and mental health,” she noted.

One of the paper’s recommendations is for greater data-sharing practices to help “better understand the nature and extent of any relationship between gambling and suicide”.

“Sharing of gambling operator data, such as betting accounts of the deceased, could also aid in identifying gambling products that are higher risk and therefore in need of more stringent regulation,” the report notes.

Identifying riskier products

Delving into this further, Reynolds explained: “The most valuable data really is that of the gambling operator. So, say you have a case where someone had died by suicide and gambling has been noted within their coronial data – you could then request that data from the gambling operator.”

Analysing this person’s betting accounts could help to identify products that are “riskier”, she said.

People who are experiencing more extreme gambling harm, what are the products they are engaging with?

Figuring out which products this person used, and how often, could help identify other people “before they reach a high level of gambling harm”.

“There are algorithms that could be used to identify people who are experiencing gambling harm due to their patterns of play, their time spent gambling, their money spent gambling.

“So really, what we hope is that [the study] will act as a prevention tool.

“We don’t want to repeat this study in five years’ time and see the numbers go up just because detection has gone up. We want to see a reduction in the amount of cases that cross the coroner’s desk where gambling is noted.”

The IPH is part of the research steering group of the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) which is in the process of being set up.

Reynolds said she hopes the issue of data sharing is something the GRAI will look into once it’s fully established.

The GRAI will be responsible for the licensing and regulation of gambling services in Ireland. It will also focus on public safety and wellbeing in terms of gambling.

The authority was established under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, which became law last October. This new legislation also introduced a watershed restriction to gambling advertisements between 5.30am and 9pm.

Reynolds said these new restrictions are “a huge step in the right direction” but more needs to be done. She said the fact gambling is so readily available, “it’s very hard for those who are in recovery [from a gambling addiction], or who are experiencing gambling problems, to ignore it”.