Gambling addiction touches people from all walks of life

By Lara Pickford-Gordon

snrwriter.camsel@catholictt.org

Wayne Lee

Lisa Sammy

The National Lotteries Control Board recently announced the start of games of chance: Play Whe, Pick 2, Pick 4 and Cash Pot on Sundays starting February 8. Gambling on Sundays evoked praise and criticism from the public and groups in society.

The T&T Council of Evangelical Churches in a statement highlighted morality and the problems gambling caused. Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon, in an interview with the Trinidad Express, said that Sundays were traditionally holy. He commented that families should be in focus on Sunday, and children benefit from being at home with their families. He asked people do all within their power to keep the essence of Sundays.

For those who work with gambling addicts—Lisa Sammy, the founder of the Journey to Recovery Foundation (journeytorecoverytt.com) and Wayne Lee, a director of the Foundation and lead of the Emmanuel Community’s Restoration group—public education and awareness are needed.

Children are gambling

In an interview with The Catholic News on January 21, Sammy said: “We see Sunday being a traditional day reserved for families, a day of rest, for worship and by introducing this on a Sunday we think it’s sending a conflicting message about the values that we choose to uphold as a society.”

Lee said, “gambling is condemned in the Bible, Proverbs 28:22 and Timothy 6:9 and 10. Allowing it on Sundays sends a message that profits are prioritised over faith, family and community well-being.”

They revealed workshops were conducted at three secondary schools with students 13 to 17 years following requests from school counsellors. Lee said, “We discovered that the younger ones in secondary schools as young as Form Three children are gambling”.

Illustrating using one school, Sammy said gambling “is taking several different forms and what I would tell you, they are certainly using technology a lot more to their advantage. They’ve even developed systems within the school. Outside you would know about money lenders and these things. That is also happening in schools—they have persons who are money lenders, who are gamblers. They have a whole system that is running”.

Four other schools are interested in having information shared, however, Lee observed the process of approval to enter schools can be very “tedious”. He said school guidance counsellors are not equipped to deal with the problem.

Another problem has been spawned from students gambling: bullying. When students lose money, “…that money was supposed to supply you with needs for the day or for the week. What is happening is they would go to the Form Twos and bully them to get money to replace that and when they get that money the cycle goes on. They will continue bullying the children and robbing them of their money,” Lee said. He does not believe children suddenly decide one day to start gambling; they are patterning after adults.

The Restoration group has seen increasing numbers of people seeking help. Approximately 35 to 40 people sought help annually. Lee added, “for last year we have seen about 82 people and there are other people that have spoken on telephone that they’re not quite ready to come in,” Meanwhile, in her group, Sammy reported an increase in women and younger people in counselling. Generally, the age of clients ranges from teens to senior citizens in their eighties.

Families affected

Gambling addiction touches people from all walks of life. Sammy said gambling addiction touches “families, co-workers, friends and especially children.” Lee stated that addiction caused, “financial ruin for [the] family, increase in crime and job loss, broken homes and neglect of children, addiction and mental health issues and crises.”

Sammy said, “those that are most at risk are actually those that are most vulnerable in society. You are looking at people who are struggling with things like poverty, discrimination, those who are socially disadvantaged.”

Sammy quoted World Health Organization data from 2024, which reported people with a gambling disorder were 15 times more likely to commit suicide than someone in the general population, and 1.2 per cent of the world population has a gambling disorder.

Sharing insight from what they have seen locally, Sammy stated, “most of them, by the time they come and sit in with us, some of them admit, 99 per cent of them would admit they have thought of suicide, with at least 80 per cent saying they were seriously contemplating”.

When people with gambling addiction eventually try to get help, they are desperate, hopeless, depressed and “in serious financial debt”. Sammy said, compared with drug and alcohol addiction, gambling is a “hidden disease”. “Persons struggle with gambling addiction sometimes for their entire life, which sometimes unfortunately ends in suicide without anybody ever having the opportunity to find out that this person was struggling.”

Sammy and Lee called for more education and awareness on gambling addiction. Sammy said gambling is normalised, “our culture sees it as harmless entertainment and people are not really exposed to the dangers of it”. Lee said education programmes should empower citizens, adding, “let’s invest in initiatives that could uplift communities and support families and foster a brighter future.”

Photo by Nik on Unsplash