The gambling industry frames gambling harm in terms of individual responsibility. This obscures the role of harmful products and practices in causing harm.
Using tactics employed by other harmful industries such as tobacco or fossil fuels, the gambling industry tries to influence the public and politicians.
Initiatives to promote ‘responsible’ or ‘safer’ gambling deliberately disregard the addictiveness of products, their impacts on the brain, the effects of misleading advertising, or how most profit comes from those most harmed.
Gambling affects the lives of millions of people in the UK… it isn’t their fault.
The industry spends millions each year on programmes and publicity to promote the idea of ‘responsible’ or ‘safer’ gambling. Commonly used messages include ‘Take Time to Think’ and ‘When the Fun Stops, Stop’. These messages reinforce the narrative that individuals are responsible for the harm they experience and it is their job to fix it, whilst ignoring the addictive nature of gambling.
This causes many people to misunderstand why they are being harmed, to feel abnormal for being harmed, and believe it is their fault. The resulting stigma increases the suicide risk associated with gambling.
