What to Do If You Feel Suicidal Because of Gambling: Urgent Help Available Now

If you are having suicidal thoughts because of gambling, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E department. I Need Help provides information about emotional support services in the UK, including crisis helplines that answer right now. You deserve support, and the organisations below are trained to help people in your situation without judgement.

Emergency contacts you can reach today

Samaritans are available every hour of every day on 116 123 (free from any phone). The line is confidential and you can talk for as long as you need. If speaking feels too hard, you can email [email protected] and receive a reply within a day.

Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) runs a helpline and webchat for anyone struggling, every day from 5pm to midnight. Call 0800 58 58 58 or visit thecalmzone.net/get-support to start a webchat. The service is anonymous.

Shout offers text support around the clock. Send a message to 85258 and a trained volunteer will text back. The conversation is private and you can stop at any time.

Why gambling debt feels impossible to escape

Gambling losses create a particular kind of despair. The money is gone instantly, there is nothing to show for it, and the shame makes it hard to tell anyone what has happened.

Financial problems feel permanent when you are in the middle of them. Debt advice services across the UK see people in your situation every week, and there are routes out that do not require you to find the full amount immediately. StepChange (stepchange.org, 0800 138 1111) offers free debt advice and will not judge how the debt arose.

The urge to gamble again to win back what you have lost is common, but it deepens the problem. Every person who has escaped gambling harm took their first step when they felt it was impossible — the difference was that they reached out.

Immediate steps that lower the danger

1. Remove access to gambling sites. Download Gamban (gamban.com) or BetBlocker (betblocker.org, free) to block gambling sites across all your devices. Install it now, before the next urge arrives.
2. Tell one person what is happening. A partner, friend, parent or sibling does not need to have all the answers — they only need to know you are in crisis so you are not alone with it. If no one in your life feels safe, tell a helpline counsellor.
3. Put a barrier between you and your money. Hand your bank cards to someone you trust, delete payment apps from your phone, or ask your bank to put a temporary block on your accounts. These are reversible steps that buy you time.
4. Get through the next hour. Leave the house, call someone, watch something that holds your attention. Suicidal thoughts are often most intense in waves — you do not need to solve everything today, only to get to tomorrow.

What happens when you call a gambling helpline

The National Gambling Helpline (0808 8020 133, free and confidential, available every hour) connects you to trained advisers from GamCare (gamcare.org.uk). You can say as much or as little as you want. They will not tell you to stop gambling, lecture you about your choices, or report you to anyone.

The call is anonymous unless you choose to give your name. The adviser will listen, ask what kind of support would help most, and can refer you to counselling, financial advice or peer support groups. If you have debt that feels crushing, they can connect you to services that negotiate with creditors on your behalf.

Calling does not commit you to anything beyond the conversation. Some people ring once and feel steadier; others ring many times over weeks or months. Our article on what happens when you call a gambling helpline describes the process in detail if knowing what to expect makes it easier to pick up the phone.

Shutting yourself out of gambling sites

GamStop (gamstop.co.uk) is a free service that blocks you from every gambling site licensed in Great Britain for a period you choose: six months, one year or five years. Once you register, the exclusion cannot be undone early.

The process takes five minutes. You enter your name, address, date of birth and email address, then choose your exclusion length. GamStop sends your details to licensed gambling sites, and your accounts are closed within hours. You will not be able to open new accounts at those sites while the exclusion is active.

GamStop does not cover sites operating without a British licence, but the blocking software mentioned earlier closes that gap. Using both together removes the paths back in.

Time-outs and deposit limits

If a full self-exclusion feels too permanent, a time-out pauses your access for a day, a week or a month. You can set one through your account settings on any licensed site, and it takes effect immediately.

Deposit limits cap how much you can transfer to a gambling account in a day, week or month. They do not stop the harm that has already happened, but they can prevent a crisis from deepening. Both tools are available at every licensed site, though the process for setting them differs.

Treatment options beyond the helpline

BeGambleAware (begambleaware.org) funds free counselling and support groups across the UK. Treatment can be one-to-one, in a group, online or face-to-face depending on what is available near you. Cognitive behavioural therapy is common — it focuses on the thoughts that drive gambling and how to interrupt them.

Gordon Moody (gordonmoody.org.uk) runs residential treatment for people whose gambling has caused severe harm. You live on site for several months, away from access to money and gambling, while working through the reasons you gamble and building a plan for afterwards. Places are limited and there is a waiting list, but referral is possible through your GP or a gambling support service.

Our article on gambling therapy explains how different approaches work and who tends to find them helpful. Therapy is not only for people who have lost large sums — it is for anyone whose gambling has started to harm them or the people around them.

Supporting yourself through the first week

The days after a crisis are fragile. Your body is exhausted, your thinking is slower, and small setbacks feel enormous. Treat yourself as you would a friend who has just survived something serious.

• Eat and sleep as regularly as you can manage. Skipping meals or lying awake at night makes every problem harder to think through.
• Avoid alcohol. It lowers your inhibitions and makes gambling urges harder to resist.
• Delete gambling apps and unsubscribe from gambling emails. Every reminder is a door back in.
• Fill the hours gambling used to occupy. Boredom is a common trigger, and having something to do with your hands or your attention reduces the pull.

When the person in crisis is someone you know

If someone has told you they feel suicidal because of gambling, take it seriously. Ask directly whether they have a plan to harm themselves — asking does not plant the idea, and it gives them permission to be honest.

Stay with them if you can, or make sure someone else is nearby. Remove means of self-harm from the house if it is safe to do so. Encourage them to call one of the helplines above, or offer to sit with them while they call.

You cannot fix the gambling or the debt for them, but you can make sure they are not alone. Our article on what to say when someone tells you they have a gambling problem covers how to respond without making things worse.

What recovery looks like from here

Recovery is not immediate and it is not linear. There will be days when you feel capable and days when the shame returns. Setbacks happen — they do not mean you have failed, only that you are still learning how to live without gambling.

People who have stopped gambling describe the first months as learning to tolerate discomfort without reaching for the one thing that used to blot it out. The urge to gamble fades over time, but it fades slowly, and the work is in finding other ways to manage stress, boredom and disappointment.

Support groups such as Gamblers Anonymous meet in person and online across the UK. Hearing from people further along in their recovery shows that the situation you are in now is survivable, because they survived it.

Help is available and you can reach it now

Suicidal thoughts are a sign of how much pain you are in, not a measure of your worth or your future. The organisations listed here exist because gambling harm is common, treatable, and not something you have to face alone.

If you are in immediate danger, call 999. If you need to talk to someone who understands, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133. The line is free, confidential and staffed by people who have heard your story before and know how to help.

Gambling is for people aged 18 and over. If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling harm, GamCare (gamcare.org.uk, 0808 8020 133) and BeGambleAware (begambleaware.org) offer free, confidential support across the UK. GamStop (gamstop.co.uk) allows you to self-exclude from all gambling sites licensed in Great Britain at once.

This is an information site for general guidance only. We are not a counselling service, mental health provider or organiser of gambling. If you are in crisis, contact emergency services or a trained helpline immediately. Online gambling is restricted to people aged 18 and over (18+). For free, confidential support with gambling harm, visit BeGambleAware.org.

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