BBC News: Online gambling: 'I stole £70,000 to feed my addiction'

Extract from the article

Danielle's met other gamblers in recovery through a network called TalkGEN, which wants to improve education and understanding of gambling harm. It was set up in 2020 by Kishan Patel, a fifth year medical student.

"Growing up I was massively affected by my dad's addiction," he says.

"There were times when my family really struggled for money and there was a big cultural stigma in my community too, where people wouldn't want to talk to us because of it."

Kishan's dad died eight years ago and he has seen the emotional and mental impact of gambling first hand.

But he says it isn't thought of as a health concern in the same way as drugs or alcohol addiction is: "There are guidelines for health professionals around these issues, but gambling is neglected when it shouldn't be."

He would like it to become something GPs consider asking vulnerable patients about, in the same way they might do with other addictions:

"Just a simple question like, 'Do you gamble?' could help open up the conversation. It's a really serious health issue we need to be addressing."