Spain Tackles Gambling Addiction in Women
Carolina Darias, Spain’s Minister of Health, spoke to the topic of gambling addiction in women last week. The minister’s goal was to highlight an underrepresented problem and bring more attention to the matter. Her speech took place during the XXII Congress of the Spanish Federation of Rehabilitated Gamblers of Chance (FEJAR), which occurred in Seville between September 30 to October 2.
Carolina Darias, Spain’s Minister of Health, spoke to the topic of gambling addiction in women last week. Jason Leung/Unsplash
“Commitment and mutual help”
The banner for the week-long event was “Commitment and mutual help,” reiterating FEJAR’s work towards supporting those with gambling addictions. Darias’s role as health minister motivated her presence where she stood by FEJAR to show that Spain’s government is also committed to supporting this issue.
Darias’s perspective included the role of gambling addiction for women specifically, but also how the government would like to reduce addiction and the stigma surrounding it by creating more preventative measures and bringing healthy living habits to the fore. She also spoke to the importance of mental health support.
During her talk at the conference, the health minister pointed out several concrete actions the Spanish government is taking in order to address this issue. For one, it works together with the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) on repeatable programs that address addiction and promote healthier alternatives. This work is done also with the assistance of the Spanish Network of Healthy Cities (RECS) in what is truly a collaborative and wide-reaching effort.
The root of the problem
Darias offered some expert knowledge about how these behaviors begin and what can be done to prevent and reduce them. One thing she explained was that a “healthy environment,” such as one with ample resources from food to shelter to education, leisure activities, and comprehensive health support, also carries fewer chances of exposure to “risk behaviors” like compulsive gambling.
Her approach was therefore to suggest the government focuses on improving all living environments as a baseline, so these unhealthy behaviors lessen over time. Darias also spoke to the connection between gambling addiction and poor mental health, citing the individual’s tendency towards depression, guilt, and poor self-esteem when gaming addiction is present.
She also highlighted the negative role stigmas play in this matter, since the stigma around gaming addiction also prevents sufferers from seeking help — even if help is readily available to them. Darias said that Spain must reduce stigma in order to help individuals overcome their addictions. Unfortunately, without help, this negative behavior snowballs, preventing people from living full lives and contributing to society.
Darias then explained where the stigma against female addicts comes in. She said that new studies by the National Plan on Drugs point to an increase of gaming addiction, but also that for women, less support is available since they are stereotypically not seen as the ones who are at risk for this issue. She said the silence around the issue makes it very difficult to treat.
Her solution again points towards the federal government’s collaborative approach with cities and autonomous communities throughout Spain which have also agreed to work with the new Mental Health Action Plan (2022-2023). Prevention of addictions, including gambling, are included as a part of the plan. €100 million in financing has gone into this plan, which has also been updated after 12 years.
The Minister of Health also praised women who have stood up to talk about their problems, and who continue to reach out for support. She said that these voices are the ones that will end the taboo around the topic, and who become positive examples for others in need.
A study was conducted by Jdigital recently into Spanish players’ gaming habits and uncovered some worrying stats. For example, many players do not know how to distinguish between licensed or unlicensed casino sites when playing online. Some admitted they do not pay attention to which sites they use at all.
