20% of gamblers attempt suicide — why don't we take the addiction more seriously?

My two daughters have informed me that something like 70% of students at their Universities where on some form of medication for anxiety and/or depression"

I have no idea if this has any baring on numbers or not,but. Given how difficult it has become these days with being granted extra help via personal independence payments is it possible that some people use their emotional state as a means to obtain a higher amount of benefits?
There's definitey those as milk the system and use every blue mood to proclaim depression and anxiety.
But I think also, days and lives are more stressful, pressures greater, and more true diagnoses have come to surface that were merely written off
 
I suspect it's always been there - we were always just discouraged about speaking of our feelings :)
Quite clearly a result of this mangled wave of Feminism taking hold and painting a picture that men are shit, women aren't equal to but better in every way. Watch any advert and it's the man as the bumbling idiot and the 'strong woman' not only taking charge, but purposely humiliating them. Even Gillette ads are sermonizing about toxic masculinity and that men are inherently bad and sexual predators in the making.

The whole media narrative is one of bashing men, less about empowering women. It's revenge time as far as they're concerned, so it's little wonder men today are being emasculated and being turned into saps.

I mean just look at your PM, Justine, and his 'People-kind' speech :eek2::puke:
 
Quite clearly a result of this mangled wave of Feminism taking hold and painting a picture that men are shit, women aren't equal to but better in every way. Watch any advert and it's the man as the bumbling idiot and the 'strong woman' not only taking charge, but purposely humiliating them. Even Gillette ads are sermonizing about toxic masculinity and that men are inherently bad and sexual predators in the making.

The whole media narrative is one of bashing men, less about empowering women. It's revenge time as far as they're concerned, so it's little wonder men today are being emasculated and being turned into saps.

I mean just look at your PM, Justine, and his 'People-kind' speech :eek2::puke:
like anything, everything in moderation.
Things can be taken too far and extreme, but some good things have also come to light
 
If it was 20% of uk gamblers then thats about 10% of the population , funny how the national lottery or
scratchards never seem to get a mention in studies,the only form of gambling that 16 years olds are
welcome to participate in .
 
It's defo getting worse again here, Like today another "addict" on the machine beside me but it's way worse in Niagara Falls and even worse in Windsor for problem gamblers. Have not seen it like this since casino's first opened here and people were on the pay phones crying cause they lost their cars etc etc.
 
Quite clearly a result of this mangled wave of Feminism taking hold ....

As tempting as it may be to use that as the take-away message of men's current self-harm issues I respectfully suggest that there may be a lot more to it than that. As a counter example women have been devalued in societies across the globe for a very long time and yet they aren't known to form "I wanna top myself" queues.

Perhaps it's got more to do with old, male-dominant societal values being eroded (at least here in the West) and thus leaving a vacuum where many men feel at a loss in terms of life's purpose and/or direction. Not unlike, for example, the "God is Dead" movement of 100 years ago or so where the reaction in a fair portion of society wasn't hugely different. But people adapt, their world is restructured and life (for most) goes on.

I personally don't see the evil spectre in modern feminism that others do. Giving equality, safety and respect to any marginalized portion of society (assuming they are generally non-violent, law-abiding members) is progress IMO. Hate and oppression never made the world a better place.
 
As tempting as it may be to use that as the take-away message of men's current self-harm issues I respectfully suggest that there may be a lot more to it than that. As a counter example women have been devalued in societies across the globe for a very long time and yet they aren't known to form "I wanna top myself" queues.

Perhaps it's got more to do with old, male-dominant societal values being eroded (at least here in the West) and thus leaving a vacuum where many men feel at a loss in terms of life's purpose and/or direction. Not unlike, for example, the "God is Dead" movement of 100 years ago or so where the reaction in a fair portion of society wasn't hugely different. But people adapt, their world is restructured and life (for most) goes on.

I personally don't see the evil spectre in modern feminism that others do. Giving equality, safety and respect to any marginalized portion of society (assuming they are generally non-violent, law-abiding members) is progress IMO. Hate and oppression never made the world a better place.
That's fine, we have differing opinions on it and that's fine too.

This modern interpretation of Feminism (5th or 6th wave, I forget) stopped being about equality of the sexes and has transcended into plain old man-hating. It's fairly apparent everywhere you look, it's hardly subtle, and it's the zeitgeist narrative forced upon young people especially.

No one's talking about Feminism in the traditional sense, because we already had that with the foundations of First Wave Feminism such as giving women the right to vote when they were quite clearly oppressed. That was a different time and today's Feminism isn't that.

Women in Western society have long held many privileges that it's become a hate-fest as to what to criticize men for next, whether it's 'man-spreading', 'mansplaining', 'toxic masculinity' or whatever else, whilst women are being portrayed as Superwomen that can do no wrong. It's a thing, and it's everywhere right now, so so much for that.

Meanwhile, these modern Feminists go AWOL when it comes to championing REAL oppressed women in developing countries, think FGM, women being raped and then found guilty by 'law' and thusly killed etc. So much for progressive movements and quelling hate, I guess that list isn't all-encompassing after all!
 
As tempting as it may be to use that as the take-away message of men's current self-harm issues I respectfully suggest that there may be a lot more to it than that. As a counter example women have been devalued in societies across the globe for a very long time and yet they aren't known to form "I wanna top myself" queues.

Perhaps it's got more to do with old, male-dominant societal values being eroded (at least here in the West) and thus leaving a vacuum where many men feel at a loss in terms of life's purpose and/or direction. Not unlike, for example, the "God is Dead" movement of 100 years ago or so where the reaction in a fair portion of society wasn't hugely different. But people adapt, their world is restructured and life (for most) goes on.

I personally don't see the evil spectre in modern feminism that others do. Giving equality, safety and respect to any marginalized portion of society (assuming they are generally non-violent, law-abiding members) is progress IMO. Hate and oppression never made the world a better place.

I respect all of the points that you have highlighted but old fashioned testosterone also has to play a part until society feels fit to remove that from men's makeup
 
... Women in Western society have long held many privileges that it's become a hate-fest ...

While it's obvious that any good thing taken too far often becomes a lot less good I simply don't see any real evidence for this "terrorized by women" thing. But I reckon that's what "agree to disagree" was invented for and so be it.

... but old fashioned testosterone also has to play a part until society feels fit to remove that from men's makeup

IMO hormones are no excuse for being an asshole. I'd say better behaviour is a societal thing rather than a body chemistry thing.

That said it occurs to me that we've wandered somewhat off the topic, the feminism/testosterone thing is probably best continued in the Attic (if needs be).
 
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I think because we're not putting anything chemical into our body like alcohol , nicotine , heroin then it's seen more as a choice than addiction . It's a blurred line for when something moves from choice to addictive behaviour .
Also I think the word "addiction" is overused . Sure if someone loses his house and all his savings because of gambling then people will clearly describe him as an addict . But there's somewhat functional addicts who believe they're doing it out of choice and will get upset if confronted with the fact that they are addicts even though they know they are not really in control
I used to work at a warehouse (exciting job) pretty much on minimum wage and get my wages on friday and by saturday morning I was always broke after going to the bookies and then pub . I was definitely an addict and oftentimes it was pretty depressing being in the same situation week in week out. Thing is I didn't have a lot to lose financially and it was just a week until I got my wages again so I could cope with it
Its facing the losses which pushes people to suicide I think , not the situation they are in but what they have lost . You get caught up in chasing losses and whilst you are still gambling it sort of feels ok because there's still a chance . But when you reach the end and there's no more chance and you have to face the losses then that can be overwhelming and make you do stupid things like jump whereas if you could take that person and lock them in a room for a few days they'd come to terms with the loss and be able to face the future
 
Hmm.. always a bit skeptical with such articles, especially nowadays. I bet it is not correct, at least not 20% of all gamblers, maybe sooner 20% of all problem gamblers..
There's a distinct difference. But i haven't read the article...

Careful, we will have you on suicide watch...
 
I suspect it's always been there - we were always just discouraged about speaking of our feelings :)
Men are the most oppressed folk on the planet. Highest unemployment, suicide, depression to name a few.
Also utterly victimised in any court, especially family court.
I’m all for equality, but the so called SJW’s are pretty awol when it comes to the equal rights of men.
 
As tempting as it may be to use that as the take-away message of men's current self-harm issues I respectfully suggest that there may be a lot more to it than that. As a counter example women have been devalued in societies across the globe for a very long time and yet they aren't known to form "I wanna top myself" queues.

Perhaps it's got more to do with old, male-dominant societal values being eroded (at least here in the West) and thus leaving a vacuum where many men feel at a loss in terms of life's purpose and/or direction. Not unlike, for example, the "God is Dead" movement of 100 years ago or so where the reaction in a fair portion of society wasn't hugely different. But people adapt, their world is restructured and life (for most) goes on.

I personally don't see the evil spectre in modern feminism that others do. Giving equality, safety and respect to any marginalized portion of society (assuming they are generally non-violent, law-abiding members) is progress IMO. Hate and oppression never made the world a better place.
Modern feminism is cancer, it’s not about equality one bit and it’s utterly devalued the strides real feminism made all them years ago.
I’ve no time for modern feminism, it’s utter BS
 
I live 20 minutes from a casino. It has been open for over 25 years now. When it first opened it was nothing more than a pole barn in the middle of a field. Now it is huge and a resort with a great golf course. It has transformed over the years to a beautiful resort. The down side to this, I KNOW people who have lost everything, and I mean everything because of gambling. I KNOW people who have attempted suicide and I KNOW people who have committed suicide because they lost everything. There have been a few instances where people have committed suicide at the resort.

What people don't realize, is it is an addiction that is bigger then themselves. I have had people tell me that the rush is better then getting high. I don't see it. I really don't. This is coming from someone (me) who has won over 200 thousand on the game Caribbean Stud. Was it exciting as hell to win that much money? Sure it was. But I also knew it was pure luck and a once in a million thing to happen. I have also won over 15 grand (hit the jackpot) playing on line. I was excited as hell but I didn't think it was going to happen again. I honestly think it is a problem where people think "This is an easy way to make money". But it isn't. What people don't think of is that is all luck 95% of time. I can honestly say that the people I have known that tried to take their own life had all said to me at one time or another, "It looks so easy to make money there, I see every one else do it".

There was a time when this casino had a promotion where if you cashed your paycheck there you had a chance to triple it by spinning a prize wheel. When I tell you on Fridays that promotions desk had a line over 100 people long and just about all day, I am not kidding you. This was becoming so bad that businesses would call and complain because people where calling in or taking the day off to spin the wheel. It was not until the state got involved because people on the system where cashing their welfare checks there and losing it all, they stopped it. I have actually heard one person say "I didn't hit the big money on the wheel, but I can triple my money on black jack".

When people start thinking like this is where the problem starts, in my opinion. If they are losing they keep going in hopes to win the money back and start thinking, "My luck has got to change" and if they start winning, they think they are going to win more and more and can't stop. Even when they just lost their last dollar. Not only are they losing money, but they are willing to give up everything, like family, their homes, their jobs. The losing hits people so hard they can't think of another way out other then to take their life.

It really is a horrible cycle. I have personally witnessed it. They are at such a low that don't want to hear to about getting help, they just want out. The shame and embarrassment is to much to handle. I don't know if that number is high or low but I think the writer is spot on when he says people don't recognize it an addiction.

LH
 
I would really like to see the thread title changed.

20% of ADDICTED gamblers would be a little sensationistic, but at least the claim of the article. and possibly closer to the truth. I've been gambling quite a few decades, and henceforth has known a lot of other gamblers. Contemplated suicide? I might think that number was conservative.

But I do remember reading a lot of years ago, and more than once since... Compulsive gambling had a higher rate of suicide than any other addiction.

I'm willing to believe that.

It should be taken more seriously.

But a thread title like this? Just looks like crackpot yellow journalism
 
I'd be inclined the desensationalize the title too but I've quoted the original Guardian title verbatim and changing it would probably some kind of copyright violation. :rolleyes:
 
This was posted a few hours after this thread started by a friend on my facebook. (Good timing), but I kept forgetting to bring it here. As a female, I can not allow to take responsibility for what men chose to do, or for anyone in that matter. Clearly there is a problem though. Blaming it on women and our roles in society, is like us women blaming men for holding us back, which in truth, it's a society issue. Anyways, it's a good read, and good timing :)
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