Support urged for gambling addictions in Cornwall

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by Change | 25 Feb 2009

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People in Cornwall are in need of greater support to deal with gambling addictions, according to one woman who has seen the impact addiction can have.

More support is needed for people in Cornwall with gambling addictions, it has been claimed.

A mother from St Austell, who wishes to be known only as Susan, has told the This is Cornwall website that more needs to be done to tackle gambling in the area, after she watched her son fall into a spiral of gambling addiction.

Speaking of her efforts to help her son, who has struggled with addiction for 11 years, she said: "I was surprised when I called local health centres. I just got passed around from pillar to post."

Susan is looking for more information to be freely and widely available on ways to tackle gambling addiction, such as access to rehab clinics.

"It's a devastating situation to be in and I'm very concerned, not just for my son, but for everyone else in Cornwall who has no help locally," she added.

Susan is particularly worried that gambling problems could get worse in the near future, as more people lose their jobs during the recession affecting Britain.

Speaking of her own son's experiences, she suggested that poor economic conditions could make his sporadic gambling worse.

"There is a possible link to it being worse when he is depressed or broke," she explained.

There are growing concerns that the economic downturn could lead to a rise in the number of people suffering from gambling addictions, as people who have been laid off and are unable to find new employment may be tempted to try to win their fortune by gambling.

One expert in Florida told the Miami Herald that the economic downturn had coincided with more people complaining of gambling addictions, as people tried to make money through games such as blackjack and poker.

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