There is a good base of literature demonstrating association between suicide ideation and attempts in individuals with serious gambling problems. Estimates of the incidence of attempts in this population range as high as 40%. Given that attempts are strong risk factors for completed suicides it may be reasonably assumed that the likely suicide rate among problem gamblers would attract more attention. Wong et al. (see link) in one of the few studies in this area called for "future research...using large-scale retrospective case-controlled psychological autopsy of completed suicides with problem and pathological gambling and prospective longitudinal panel methodologies of people with gambling and suicidal behavior." Given the high utilization of the psychological autopsy method it would seem that at least part of this request would be acted upon.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3067982/
Dear Tony,
According to my observations Chinese people are most interested in suicides and study the event or its prevention from every conceivable angle. In our culture gambling linked to suicide is not studied that much. Gambling is more frequently linked to e.g. mania in bipolar disorder as opposed to suicide which links to major depression. Sweden has effective treatment centers for gambling. Finland's high frequency of suicides is on the decrease:
In 2014, suicides were committed by 789 persons, which was nearly 100 fewer than in the year before. The number of suicides was at its highest in 1990, when there were over 1,500 suicides in Finland. Since then, suicide mortality has decreased by nearly 30 per cent in ten years.
Men's suicide mortality is much higher than women's. In 2014, suicide mortality or the number of suicides a year per 100,000 population was 14.4, being 22.3 for men and 6.9 for women. Three out of four of the persons who committed a suicide were men.
Source:
Statistics Finland / Causes of death
Article The prevalence of problematic gambling behavior: A Scandinav...
Article Retracted: A comparison of impulsivity and sensation seeking...
Article Gambling problems in bipolar disorder in the UK: Prevalence ...
Article Interventions for comorbid problem gambling and psychiatric ...
Article Toward the Definition of a Bipolar Prodrome: Dimensional Pre...
Hi Tony,
I thought there was a fair bit on gambling as a suicide risk factor. My EndNote library has over 60 listings, even though I have never focused on this factor. A colleague and I do have some new research where we found risk-taking through gambling was only modestly related to suicidality. Below are a few papers that might be of interest. However, I would be concerned with how the two constructs (both gambling and suicide) were measured. You are right though that the psychological autopsy approach, if done well, is best.
Feigelman, W., Gorman, B. S., & Lesieur, H. (2006). Examining the relationship between at-risk gambling and suicidality in a national representative sample of young adults. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 36(4), 396-408.
Ledgerwood, D. M., Steinberg, M. A., Wu, R., & Potenza, M. N. (2005). Self-reported gambling-related suicidality among gambling helpline callers. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19(2), 175-183.
You might also be interested in more recent online trends (not on suicide but this is a good direction to look).
Guertler, D., Rumpf, H. J., Bischof, A., Kastirke, N., Petersen, K. U., John, U., & Meyer, C. (2014). Assessment of problematic internet use by the compulsive internet use scale and the internet addiction test: A sample of problematic and pathological gamblers. European Addiction Research, 20(2), 75-81. doi: 10.1159/000355076
Best wishes,
Keith Thanks for the citations. I agree that there is a "fair amount" (or even more) of research on gambling and suicide generally but there does not seem to be much on problem/pathological gambling'and suicide mortality. Most studies focus only on "suicidality," ideation, and attempts in problem gamblers who were alive at the time of the inquiry. Problem gambling seems to be one of those factors that precedes, precipitates, and/or aggravates many others (e.g., depression, substance abuse, legal and financial issues, marital discord, etc.). Regards! Tony
You're right Tony. I took another look at the refs I have and did find two more that might be of interest. The Lester one doesn't have an abstract attached, so I don't know what they found. The other reiterates your point - not much valid info on deaths.
Good idea for future study!
Lester, D., & Jason, D. (1989). Suicides at the casino. Psychological Reports, 64(1), 337-338.
Pfuhlmann, B., & Schmidtke, A. (2002). Pathological gambling and suicidal behavior. Archives of Suicide Research, 6(3), 257-267.
cheers,
Keith
Tony - Good to hear from you. My friend Peter Pallin works with clients presenting with gambling linked issues and I've tipped him off re your question. Did you get to Chicago for the AAS get together. My friend Fergus Cumiskey heads up a Northern Ireland helpline / counselling service (Contact - "Lifeline") for the distressed - he was in Chicago last week and I hope to see him soon. Still trying to match my desire to "write it all down and publish in a book" to my less than perfect health status. I wish you well Tony. Slan is Beannacht Philip O'Keeffe
Nice to hear from you as well and thanks for passing my inquiry along to your friend. No, I was not at AAS. I gave up conferences for Lent about 20 years ago and never resumed participation. Seriously, I have always been troubled that SP gatherings are just so much "preaching to the choir" (in between the selfie exchanges) and that so much is spent on several conferences yearly in the US compared to the pittance spent on actual community-level suicide prevention with a lot less pay-off on the front lines.
Ciao!
Dear Tony,
I happened to find the following upcoming publication: "Factors associated with suicidal risk among a French cohort of problem gamblers seeking treatment".
http://www.psy-journal.com/article/S0165-1781%2815%2930390-5/abstract
Dear Beatrice,
According to the abstract: "A history of major depression and anxiety disorders were predictors of suicidal risk as well as the perceived inability to stop gambling."
Beatrice + Jennifer:
From what I understand problem gambling rarely or only briefly persists in absence of other conditions. It may be a form of self-medication for coping with pre-existing depression or other mental illness in some while in others it leads to depressive symptoms. It frequently co-occurs with substance abuse. Like the reference Jennifer has shared much of what we know comes from studies of those in treatment so what we learn relates to suicidal behavior not mortality. Best!
Tony
Tony,
PG seems to occur in people isolated in some way or another e.g. fleeing to an other country. You have to occupy yourself in your solitude and it is a shame to say that the behaviorists constructed the first machines to get caught in by not being able to guess when the reward comes (pigeons and rats). PG therefore uses all kinds of tricks and imaginary nonsens to get the reward. A PG thinks if I raise my left hand or move my right foot this happens although the machines are constructed so that he will lose in the end. When you are in a group of PG:s it is like being in a group of heavily drunk persons and you cannot go and take him from the machine without danger (my training).
I am currently researching on religiosity and suicide. However, I was involved in setting up and listing a casino located in South East Asia in Hong Kong some years back. That was the period as well where Macau overtook Las Vegas in terms of gambling (casino) revenue. When I was young, my neighbour committed suicide in his house. One of the issue was that due to their obsessive nature in gambling (and sometimes inability to stop when they are losing money), they tend to turn to "loan shark". I was told then the "loan shark" gave him an ultimatum to pay up or to "die" as it was not setting good precedence for their trade. He chose the latter option. When I was in this industry, the saying was that, "the casino is not afraid to lose, it is just afraid that you do not come back" ... as from the law of probability and given sufficient economies of scale, the casino has the upper hand. It is the frequency of betting that they want - not high amount per bet. Thus, many casinos try to create some attractions to encourage this obsessive thoughts although not all problem gamblers are OCD. This is very much similar for many Chinese such as in Malaysia, and now probably Singapore as well, and in Macau. I am not sure whether the thinking and behavioural patter are similar in US. I have also not heard of problem gamblers seeking treatment in this part of the world. Gambling is a game of chance. Think suicide is more linked towards casino gambling (the so-called table games), unlike other forms of gambling such as number forecast, lottery, horse racing, machine games, etc.
Bob:
Thank you for your very interesting comments. While I have been involved with suicide prevention for quite some time I was late in coming to understand the risk among problem and pathological gamblers. My work puts me in contact with suicidal inactive gamblers (i.e., broke, homeless, no family, etc.). With these cases the gambling often occurred years before and they present with serious behavioral health issues. With some the gambling only emerges obliquely in a discussion of the reasons for their criminal justice contacts. Good luck with your work on suicide and religiosity, a fascinating topic.
Tony