Asking for help is not a failure: it is the most useful decision you can make when gambling takes up too much room in your life. The gambling support service in your country (see the box) listens to and guides gamblers and those close to them without judgement. This lesson tells you whom to contact, how, and how to report a dubious site or practice.
Direct support by phone (see the box).
Write rather than talk, from your phone or your computer.
Ask to be called back at a time that suits you.
Read and talk with other gamblers and their loved ones.
Choose the situation that matches yours. The steps will appear.
In most countries, public or non-profit specialist organisations support people struggling with an addiction, including gambling addiction, as well as their families (see the box). On site: doctors, psychologists, social workers and addiction specialists.
Appointments with addiction professionals, at your own pace.
Talk with other people going through the same thing.
Support for relatives and friends, who often need it as much as the gambler.
A directory of local specialist centres near you is available through the gambling support service in your country (see the box above).
There is nothing to prepare before calling: you can simply say “I’d like to talk about my betting”. But if it helps, here are a few points to think about. Nothing is saved or sent: this list stays on your screen.
An unlicensed betting site, or an advert pointing to one: report it to your country's gambling regulator.
A tipster promising guaranteed outcomes, a false advert: report it to your country's consumer protection authority.
In tennis, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) receives reports, on itia.tennis.
If you are in great distress, or if you are thinking about harming yourself, immediately contact your country's suicide prevention service or emergency medical services (see the box below).
6 questions. You need 5 correct answers to pass the lesson. This is the last lesson of module 3.
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