A man from north Wales has revealed how compulsive gambling resulted in him losing half a million pounds, leaving him with crippling debt.
Jordan Lea first got involved with betting through online video games in his mid-teens, and said by the time he reached adulthood, he was “primed for quite a severe gambling addiction”.
His desire to keep gambling ended up leading him down a path to the criminal justice system.
‘Devastating effects’
By his late twenties, he was a compulsive gambler, but only realised the extent of his problem when confronted by a casino croupier. “I just broke down in tears,” he told BBC Radio Wales. “That was the catalyst that really pushed me to get help.”
After taking action to overcome his issues he set up Deal Me Out, a charity to raise awareness of problem gambling and gambling-related harms in Wales.
He believes more education is needed to combat what he calls a “hidden addiction”, warning that if you have a smartphone, you have “a casino in your pocket”.
Annie Ashman of Public Health Wales believes gambling is having “devastating effects” on people’s mental health, saying: “A system-wide approach is needed to take action on every level of the causes and resulting harms that gambling can have”.
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