Suicide and Gambling

Abstract

The World Health Organization has tracked the evolution of suicide throughout the decades. From 1983 to 2001, the world suicide rate was 12 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, which is comparable to the Canadian suicide rate that is measured at 15 deaths per 100,000 people. In the short time of two years (1997–1999), there was a 10% suicide increase in Canada. The debate over whether abusive consumption of certain products (e.g. alcohol, drugs of abuse) could cause, lead to or trigger suicidal ideation and/or behavior is getting more attention from the public and the helping professions, as another item gets added to the list of premorbid factors. Problem gambling is a recent issue that has received some negligible attention as a factor playing a role in suicidal ideation and/ or behavior. It is important to note that problem gambling has been treated recently as a concurrent disorder (Clarke, 2005) that co-occurs with a host of mental health and addictive problems. There are a host of factors that are suggested to play a direct or indirect role in suicidal ideation and/or suicidal behavior. It has been suggested that problem gamblers have high rates of both suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. “Pathological gamblers” experience an increased chance of risk-taking behavior, which coincides with a high rate of suicidal ideation. A 1999 study conducted by Maccallum et al. found that 38% of suicidal ideation is related to gambling, of which 8% of the subjects were actively suicidal. Moreover, of those surveyed, half of those actively suicidal had reported a previous attempt (Kennedy, Cook, Poole, Brunson, & Jones, 2005). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-VI (American Psychiatric Association, 2000:616) ‘...individuals Int J Ment Health Addiction (2006) 4: 191–193 DOI 10.1007/s11469-006-9030-z