Problem gambling is of accelerating concern across Nz. During the period of yesteryear years, the nation has witnessed an enormous increase in the amount of people who have become hooked on gambling activities, for example pokies and sports betting.

Gamblers Anonymous. If you want to gamble thats your business. If you want to stop gambling that's ours. Gamblers Anonymous Preamble. Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from a gambling problem. Problem Gambling Foundation. PGF creates resources to help create awareness of gambling harm in New Zealand.

Based on the Nz Problem Gambling Foundation, nearly 2% of residents might be problem gamblers. Having a population well over 4.3 million, which means that there might be nearly 100 000 individuals across the nation struggling with gambling addiction. As a result, the federal government is becoming more and more worried about the potential risks of casino gambling.

Based on reports, there are many categories of those who are more inclined to develop gambling problems than the others. Maori and Off-shore adults are more inclined to become problem gamblers than individuals of other backgrounds. Youth groups also experience high rates of problem gambling. Males are also much more likely than women to get a gambling addiction.

There are lots of additional factors that may affect a person’s likeliness of creating a gambling problem. For instance, substance users come with an elevated chance of become problem gamblers. Reports haven’t yet confirm why this is actually the situation. Even though it is likely that gambling might be seen as an financial means to fix funding their other addictions, some researchers think that gambling triggers exactly the same emotional response as alcohol or drugs in certain individuals.

Problem gambling can also be much more likely among people who have pre-existing mental conditions, for example depression, anxiety and personality disorders. This fact highlights the situation for elevated counselling for individuals struggling with gambling addiction. While politicians are fighting to impose gaming limits, it appears that lots of problem gamblers would benefit more from counselling and therapy.

The Issue Gambling Foundation cites popular reasons that folks become hooked on internet casino gambling and land-based gambling. First of all, there’s the Gambler’s Fallacy, which in turn causes a lot of people to think that they’re certain to win eventually. This prevents them playing even if they’re on the downswing, digging them right into a much deeper financial hole. The Near-Miss Effect can also be responsible. Whenever a near-miss has experience, the gamer feels exactly the same way as though they’d won and ought to stay in the hand.

There are a number of apps that aim to support people with addiction problems including gambling harm. However, few apps for gambling harm have had professional input during development or have undergone formal evaluation. There are also a number of apps that may do more harm than good.

Apps for problem gambling have the potential to provide users with helpful features such as skills to handle urges to gamble, enhance motivation, promote social support and tools to monitor progress. On this page you fill find information on:

Apps and tools that may be helpful

The following are examples of apps and tools that have the potential to help people with experiencing gambling harm. Note: It's important that these apps and tools are used together with other therapies such as seeking professional help.

Online gambling blockers

Online gambling blockers are software tools to help you limit your online gambling by blocking access to gambling websites. In the following videos the Salvation Army Oasis services have reviewed a few online gambling blockers, including information of how to access the software and a summary of the pros and cons of each. Read more about online gambling blockers.

Gambling harm apps that are not recommended

The following are examples of gambling harm apps that are not recommended. These summaries give insight into the sorts of things that make some gambling harm apps unfavourable.

BetQuit

The aim of this app is to provide fast filtering of online gaming websites on Android devices by becoming the default browser on the device. It aims to prevent users from accessing online gaming websites by blocking these sites (similar to antiviral software).

Comment (Dr Carlos Lam Yang, GP, East Health Trust)
I would not recommend this app to anyone as it appears to be focused on making money for the developer for what is essentially a browser with some extra codes to block gambling-related websites. Also, if you are seriously addicted, you would not install this app in the first place. Even if you did, you could easily uninstall it again. Also, it does not prevent you from accessing gambling websites on another device or computer. I would advise people not to waste their money on this app.
Safety concerns

• Unsure if BetQuit browser also transfers all your settings, passwords and credit card data from your existing browser into its memory bank and provides secure-enough high-level encryption to ensure that it does not get tampered with or hacked.
• Unsure where this app was developed – no mention of developers’ names or country of origin.
• Cost: $8.99/month on Android, $5/month on iOS. Does not allow free trial with reduced features or time-limited free trial. Multiple spelling mistakes on website. Need to register using Facebook, email or creating an account – does not allow option of being anonymous if you just want to try it out.

Addiction Avert

This app aims to be a self-help tool for clients with gambling addiction.

Comment (Alice Wang, Project Coordinator, Asian Family Services)
People with addiction are a very particular population who need lots of motivation to control their behaviour and strengthen their confidence to change. This app doesn’t look like it has enough of this kind of function. The function is not very practical as it is no different from a notebook. I can only see the function of this app as being like a memo. The layout of the app is not presentable.

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The importance of robust evidence: SPGeTTI app

The New Zealand Ministry of Health invested in research into a smart phone app, called SPGeTTI, to support people with a gambling problem, in particular for those using electronic gambling machines (pokies). The app intended to use geo-positioning technology to deliver a behavioural support programme to deliver timely messages at moments of high risk, eg, when the person was close to a gambling venue in Auckland.¹
However, during the course of the study, problems arose with poor uptake of the app, technology limitations with regard to geo-positioning and issues such as shame and privacy with regard to others seeing the app on their phone. Despite this, participants indicated ongoing interest in smart phones apps as a tool for supporting people experiencing harm from gambling.
The results of the research have been used to inform the Ministry's thinking about the policy and use of such technology to promote gambling harm minimisation, and to inform decision making about similar research investments in the future.
This case study shows how important it is that apps for gambling harm get professional input during development or undergo formal evaluation. Read more

Learn more

References

1. Humphrey G, Newcombe D, Whittaker R, Parag V, Bullen C. SPGeTTI – a smartphone-based problem gambling evaluation and technology testing initiative final report National Institute for Health Innovation, The University of Auckland, 2019.

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Disclaimer: Health Navigator’s app library is a free consumer service to help you decide whether a health app would be suitable for you. Our review process is independent. We have no relationship with the app developers or companies and no responsibility for the service they provide. This means that if you have an issue with one of the apps we have reviewed, you will need to contact the app developer or company directly.