Gambling Addiction VLOG #1: 'Birthday Observations'

[@THEINVISIBLEADDICTION]

Not going to lie. Felt mostly alright this week, then pressing publish I was like - damn, sweaty palms, heavy beating heart! Just hoping it helps somebody out there. Will publish another Vlog same time next week (Sunday at 7pm). Wishing you well and a good week ahead, Alex :)

[@richardadams7667]

It's honestly hard to understand those amounts of money. £2000?! Each? I feel like a 50p bet or even a single weekly scratch card is on the verge of mad to me and then you drop the 2000. As for the bridge and your friend's cancer problems, it's all so real. In a way it's refreshing as a lot of content produced lately simply isn't. It's escapism. I look forward to seeing and hearing more. All the best Alex

[@THEINVISIBLEADDICTION]

Hi Richard, I agree, it's mad how £2,000 was placed - by each person - on the horse. Even I was getting sucked into believing it would win. Talk about peer pressure! And it lost! I can't imagine what they must've felt like after the race. And thanks so much for your kind words and support. Great to hear from you and wishing you well. Alex :)

[@adamfranklin3689]

Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your story. Just a question as to where you got the 1 in 4 males with a gambling addiction statistic from? From all credible statistics I've seen it would be vastly lower than that. All the best.

[@THEINVISIBLEADDICTION]

Hi Adam, I got the stat from The Times: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gambling-problems-for-1-in-4-young-men-pj0w7cv9j

[@adamfranklin3689]

@@THEINVISIBLEADDICTION behind a paywall but I would be very suspicious of the data collection method there. From everything I've seen on this subject the number would be only a few percent at a maximum

[@adamfranklin3689]

@@THEINVISIBLEADDICTION I've had a look at the study and I think '1 in 4 young men have gambling problems' wouldn't be a fair reflection of the results. It's not that clear in terms of being broken down by age and gender but the headline numbers are 0.9% of the total surveyed population exhibiting problem gambling and 4.3% "low to moderate severity". This "low to moderate severity" has the bar set extremely low using the Problem Gambling Severity Index, counting anyone that scores at least 1 in this category as "low to moderate severity". This goes against the guidance from the creators of the PGSI for how it should be used, with scores of 1-2 being a "low-risk gambler" with "few or no identified negative consequences". Even the bar for the 0.9% is lower than the creators guidance, the study has said anyone answering 5 or above is a problem gambler when the index creators put this level at 8 or above.