Leading Irish Psychiatrists Call for Gambling Advertising Ban in 2021

Ireland’s College of Psychiatrists was formed in 2009 and applies itself to ensuring that both the practice of psychiatry and the mental health of the Republic of Ireland receive the attention they deserve.

With the advent of the festive season, ongoing lockdowns and the very real financial strains experienced in Ireland in 2020 the Faculty of Addictions Psychiatry of the College released an in-depth review of gambling and gambling harms.

Concerning Lack of Hard Data

One of the key concerns raised by the College in its paper is the lack of information relating to the prevalence of gambling and addictive behaviours in Ireland. While their European and American counterparts have several studies to refer to when addressing the issue Ireland has no firm data points for gambling addiction.

The College determined the following two factors to be in dire need of addressing:

• Lack of research on gambling and gambling disorder in the Irish population
• Lack of dedicated services for the treatment of gambling disorder within the Irish mental health and/or addiction services

A key concern for the College, and in particular the lead author of the report Professor Colin O’Gara, is the high volume of casino and betting brands seen by youth and at-risk individuals across Irish mainstream media:

“We cannot continue to ignore the links between problem gambling and the current high volume of betting ads – be that in traditional TV ads or on team jerseys and side-line banners. Betting has become strongly linked with the enjoyment of sports. We are normalising gambling as a behaviour.”

It is this lack of information regarding compulsive behaviour among the at-risk members of the community, coupled with the increased access to gambling websites and high-volumes of gambling advertising, that has seen the College call for an outright ban on gambling advertising during sporting events in 2021.

 5 Steps to Safer Gambling in Ireland

The College has taken the proactive step of including 5 key recommendations which they feel will support safer gambling in Ireland.

1. Gambling advertising should be tightly controlled and monitored and should not be marketed directly to children or in connection with live sporting events.
2. Gambling control legislation (The Gambling Control Bill 2013) should be enacted as a priority and a related regulatory authority and sources of funding established.
3. Education about gambling disorder should be provided through multi-agency collaboration in both public and professional spheres, in order to reduce the effects of stigma and to highlight the potential and long-term dangers of gambling.
4. Treatment services need to be established with increased emphasis on early intervention, clear referral pathways and knowledge of local and national social supports embedded within.
5. Research should be funded and carried out nationally to further our understanding of gambling disorder and effective treatments

The experts behind the report believe that these action items will help professionals and the public recognise problem behaviours, assess if a problem actually exists and then set the guidelines on how to proceed with treatment.

The full report covers remarkably interesting insights into international studies, public education, training modalities and even funding programs which can be read on the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland’s official website.