Currently, Gordon Moody’s gambling addiction treatment center located in Wolverhampton is the sole location for the UK when it comes to treatment only for women. Besides being the only one in the UK, the charity’s unique treatment center is likely the single such location in the whole world, considering that men predominantly join gambling addiction treatment centers.
This creates an uneven ground for the treatment of gambling addiction among women while at the same time, more research on the matter is required. Now, a new report released by The Guardian suggests that while some women may reach out for help and disclose their addiction, they can sometimes receive antidepressants rather than effective treatment, a method that may exacerbate their issue.
Sarah Forshaw, Gordon Moody’s head of service development, who was interviewed by the publication, revealed that it is not uncommon for women to visit the gambling addiction treatment center and confirm that their previous attempts to treat gambling addiction were unsuccessful because they were misunderstood. Moreover, she warned that the addiction of many women may go on untreated. “Gambling addiction is still massively misunderstood and hidden, and women seem to be even more hidden within that,” added Forshaw.
“We’ve had a lot of women pluck up the courage to go to a doctor and talk about addiction and then be prescribed antidepressants, for example. Their addiction is almost swept under the carpet.“
Sarah Forshaw, head of service development at Gordon Moody
Additional Research into Women’s Addiction to Gambling Is Needed
According to Dr Rosalind Baker-Frampton, Gordon Moody’s evaluation and research lead, the development of the program available for women at the gambling treatment center started from zero. She explained that discussions with women who visited the center helped in the shaping of the program. Additionally, Baker-Frampton spoke about the insufficient research into women’s gambling addictions.
She said that while most research focuses on men, the same methodology cannot be applied to women since they have “different life experiences.” What’s concerning according to Baker-Frampton is that women, unlike men, can hide their addiction much longer. “Normally women have been gambling for an average of around seven years before they come to us. Our data shows 66% have children and 87% have some kind of mental health difficulty as well,” explained Baker-Frampton.
So far, the gambling addiction treatment center has collected data from more than 500 women. This data is going to be vital for further research into treatment specialized for women and Gordon Moody is actively seeking opportunities to join forces with researchers and universities that can play a vital role in this process.