Research on gambling lacks respondents

One such study was undertaken by researchers at the University of Canada in Manitoba, but they ran into an unexpected problem.

The researchers need at least 84 people to make everything perfect, but 10 days after the search of those who want to apply, only 7 people have submitted their applications.

According to the scientists themselves, they assumed that not all gambling addicts would want to tell their story and admit their addiction, but they couldn't predict what the extent of the problem would be.

The purpose of the study is to compare 2 types of counseling provided: a gambling-stress relationship program and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Both approaches have already proven to work, but scientists wanted to know the most effective one.

Some scientists believe that gambling may connect to previous experiences or psychological traumas from childhood: physical or sexual abuse, car accidents, disadvantage in school, and peer bullying.

The hypothesis is that gambling addiction may follow from psychological trauma. If this is true, then dealing with addiction will become much easier, as psychologists and psychotherapists have a large number of tools to correct such problems.

The research work is funded by the Manitoba Gambling Research Program. It provides free counseling through a grant. In addition, participants will receive gift certificates for purchases at Amazon.

According to the researchers themselves, the last statistics were collected in June 2016. According to them, the percentage of gambling addicts in Manitoba dropped from 1.2 to 0.3 in four years - a significant indicator of people's willingness to fight addiction and talk about their problems.