LONDON, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Seven new gambling addiction clinics are to be opened across England, where eight such institutions already in operation, as demand for specialist support help has reached a record high, Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has said.
The announcement was welcomed by Professor Mark Griffiths, a psychologist and expert in behavioral addiction at Nottingham Trent University. He said it's absolutely crucial that people have places in their locality where they can access gambling addiction treatment.
NHS figures show that about 1,400 patients were referred for help last year, an increase of more than a third on the previous 12 months, and up by almost four-fifths compared to two years ago.
The NHS plans to treat up to 3,000 patients a year across the 15 clinics.
"Last year, 1,400 people considered their condition so bad that they wanted treatment for it. We know that's the tip of the iceberg because we're talking about tens of thousands of problem gamblers," Griffiths said.
According to the Gambling Commission, around 138,000 people could be problem gamblers, and a further 1.3 million are engaged in either moderate or low-risk gambling.
Problem gambling is any problem that results from gambling in one's life, Griffiths said. For example, a problem gambler could be somebody who is having intense relationship problems because of gambling, but have no problems at work, nor any financial problems, he explained.
Griffiths said he wanted to see more mandatory measures put into place by the gambling industry. ■