{"id":627527,"date":"2026-06-08T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/627527\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:00:12","slug":"vital-to-catch-signs-of-gambling-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/627527\/","title":{"rendered":"Vital to catch signs of gambling addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

PETALING JAYA: As the FIFA World Cup 2026 draws nearer, betting activity is expected to rise, which could lead some to develop gambling addiction as a result.<\/p>\n

To this, mental health experts are urging families and friends to spot early signs of gambling addiction in their loved ones and intervene before the habit spirals out of control.<\/p>\n

Psychologist Dr Victor Goh said the prominence of the World Cup creates more opportunities to get into betting as gambling advertisements flood social media.<\/p>\n

\"CLICKCLICK TO ENLARGE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue comes when simple bets become an obsessive behaviour that affects their mood and interaction with their loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may be seen wanting to borrow money during the tournament as well as becoming extremely money-minded or stingy towards expenses outside of gambling,\u201d said Goh, who is the dean of Psychology at HELP University.<\/p>\n

He added that while social betting during big sporting events like the World Cup is a normal pastime that can be enjoyable, anyone engaging in it should do so in moderation.<\/p>\n

Mental health counsellor Dr Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan said families need to look out for sudden behavioural changes in their loved ones during major sports events like the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome signs of possible gambling addiction include them suddenly becoming secretive about their spending before, during and after the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may also suddenly sell their prized belongings before or during the event to fund their bets, which is a serious sign that the casual bet has gone beyond leisure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added that a severe sign of gambling addiction is when a person begins trying to get their loved ones or other people to start gambling as well.<\/p>\n

Consultant addiction psychiatrist Dr Joven Mailvaganam said gambling addiction is easier to arise if a person has recently encountered significant stress, either emotionally or financially.<\/p>\n

\u201cStress can lead them to turn to gambling as a coping mechanism, which could easily lead to addiction as they become obsessed with checking betting apps, odds or match updates all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose addicted will also display significant mood swings around matches and even begin to neglect other aspects of their lives during the tournament,\u201d said Joven, who is also a member of the Mental Health Association of Sarawak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PETALING JAYA: As the FIFA World Cup 2026 draws nearer, betting activity is expected to rise, which could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[212696,212691,212695,172288,7696,102,1906,212692,6623,212694,212697,212693,212698,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-627527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-behavioural-changes","tag-betting-activity","tag-borrowing-money","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-gambling-addiction","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-health-experts","tag-mentalhealth","tag-mood-interaction","tag-secretive-spending","tag-social-media-advertisements","tag-stress-coping-mechanism","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}