John Gilham: Gambling Harm

Let's have a think there, because it can be quite well hidden.

So what signs might family members, fleet managers or colleagues notice in somebody who may be suffering in this way, but while still respecting their privacy and avoiding making any assumptions? So some wise words from you here now, please.

I think there's a number that you can keep an eye out for.

But again, these possibly aren't directly or only associated with gambling.

But I expect the thing is, if you can see someone's performance that has been up to a point good, then suddenly starts to change for no good reason.

If you see someone having swings in their moods, So one moment they're very high, next moment they're very low.

That's particularly maybe important for someone who's gambling.

You know, they've won or they've lost, and you can see those swings in someone's moods.

Someone who starts to isolate themselves a lot, particularly, again, the person who gambles, because these individuals want to gamble.

And when I say want to, because of the illness that they're now suffering, they have this insatiable craving.

It's called an impulse control disorder.

They are looking for space.

They're looking to go away and to do this.

So sometimes they start to isolate themselves.

Could be they're asking for money.

asking a friend to borrow money, something they hadn't maybe done previously.

So you're looking at the changes in behavior.

Someone who's exceptionally very tired or someone maybe looking for, suddenly they've had a good sickness record and that starts to change.

So you can see all of these things aren't necessarily directly associated we go they can impact on others uh but i think if you've got some awareness and maybe a moment we can talk about some questions you can ask people um they're things that they can maybe just make you think about is gambling a factor amongst all the other things that organizations will really consider alcohol drugs and other issues