Father Talks About Son’s Suicide Due to Gambling Addiction

John Myers whose son took his own life after being addicted to gambling talks about the prevention of such outcomes and calls for more regulations on advertisements.

Father Talks About Son’s Death

UK resident John Myers lost his son to suicide related to harmful gambling behavior in 2014 and he now talks about the matter. His son, Ryan Myers, took his own life at the age of 27 after he accumulated debt regarding his gambling addiction. Now, the father urges other people who may be addicted to gambling and exhibit harmful behavior, to seek help.

John talked about the things his son was doing before committing suicide and how this led to the horrible outcome. He explained that Ryan had been spending his wages three times in one day in an attempt to get out of his gambling debt. John and his wife Alison were mostly unaware of their son’s gambling habits until after his death. It was only by reviewing his bank accounts that they started to grasp the extent of his gambling disorder.

In the months leading up to his death, Ryan had attempted to seek help. He contacted one of the companies he was betting with, requesting to be self-excluded. He also connected with a recovering gambling addict he found on YouTube, explaining that he had been trying to quit. However, the constant barrage of advertisements and promotions he faced daily made it nearly impossible.

To his family, Ryan’s death came completely out of the blue. John reflected on the emotions he went through, recalling the things Ryan had said during their holiday, trying to make sense of what had happened. He struggled to understand how it could have occurred, as Ryan had always been a happy person. Sometimes, John felt angry with him after his death, but eventually, he realized the depth of what Ryan must have been enduring.

John Calls for Stricter Regulations and Tries Helping Other Families

After Ryan died, John started connecting with other families impacted by gambling addiction, hoping to help prevent them from facing such a tragic loss. He is now advocating for much stricter regulation of gambling, particularly calling for decisive action against aggressive advertising and marketing. John also wants to see the option for gamblers to permanently self-exclude from all gambling sites.

He explained that he is concerned about the widespread gambling advertisements across media, the same ones that continued to be sent to Ryan before he took his own life. John said young children can see these ads on TV where everybody wins and nobody ever loses out. According to him, children do not understand the potential pitfalls of gambling.

According to Dr Matt Gaskell, clinical lead at the NHS Northern Gambling Service, there has been a rise in the number of women using the clinic’s services since it opened last year. He also said there’s been a lot of advertising across daytime television, mostly oriented towards women.

However, Emma Crookes, a senior mental health nurse at the clinic, there are already seeing the benefits of their work. According to her, there have already been many people who Emma Crookes, a senior mental health nurse at the clinic.