The youngest person seeking help from gambling is only 16 years old

Gambling with family account to abandon school

Illegal gambling has become more serious in recent years. A gambling rehab agency received 250 cases last year. Two of them were help seekers under the age of 29, and the youngest was only a 16-year-old teenager. There were also family members who taught the way to gambling. . Mao Liqing, a counseling psychologist at the Lutheran Qingliang Center, said that if you find that people around you are increasing their bets, getting anxious or irritable when quitting gambling, or lying to family members due to gambling, you need to be aware that they will turn into problem or pathological gamblers. .

Zhou Yaying, director of the Lutheran Youth Center, said that last year, a 16-year-old boy asked for help. Since his family has always had gambling habits, he also learned a lot about gambling since he was a child, and even got his family to lend money to bet. The account allows him to accumulate "combat" experience.

Zhou said that because his family members acted as "models" for gambling, the victim had been addicted and felt that he was doing a good gambling, so he started to contact different gambling groups online to exchange "tips". As a result, the victim started to buy more and more and owed more than ten thousand gambling debts. However, he continued to indulge in gambling and decided to abandon school. The gambling became deeper and deeper, and the victim felt that his situation was not right, so he asked the organization for help and accepted gambling cessation services.

Mao Liqing said that general pathological gamblers have characteristics, such as always thinking about gambling, stopping themselves from gambling many times but unsuccessful, gambling to escape problems and emotions, and possible loss of work, study and family due to gambling. Wait.

[TW]

求助戒賭者最細僅16歲　用家人戶口賭至棄學

近年非法賭博情況愈趨嚴重，有戒賭機構去年接到250宗個案，其中兩成為29歲以下的求助者，最小一名僅為16歲青少年，更「攞正牌」有家人教路賭博方式。路德會青亮中心輔導心理學家毛麗清表示，若發現身邊人士有不斷增加賭注、戒賭時會焦慮或煩躁，又或者因賭博而向家人說謊的話，就需要注意會演變成問題或病態賭徒。

路德會青亮中心主任周雅瑩表示，去年接到一名16歲的男童求助，由於其家人向來有賭博習慣，故他從少亦學懂不少相關賭博知識，甚至獲家人借出投注戶口讓他累積「實戰」經驗。

周表示，由於家人作為賭博的「榜樣」，事主便一直沉迷更覺得自己賭得不錯，於是開始在網上接觸不同賭博群組，交流「貼士」心得。事主因此開始愈買愈大，更因此而欠下過萬賭債，但他繼續沉迷賭博並決定棄學。賭海愈浸愈深，事主感到自己情況不妥，於是向機構求助並接受戒賭服務。

毛麗清表示，一般病態賭徒都有特徵顯示，例如一直會想着關於賭博的事、多次制止自己賭博但不成功、以賭博逃避問題和情緒，以及可能會因賭博而失去工作、學習和家庭等。