Mental Health Authority Cautions Against Growing Betting Addiction

The Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, Dr. Eugene K. Dordoye, has raised concern over the growing rate of betting addiction in Ghana, describing it as a serious mental health issue and a looming national crisis.

Speaking in a media interview, Dr. Dordoye said many people fail to recognize that compulsive betting is an addiction, especially when individuals continue gambling despite its harmful effects on their lives.

“We’ve had doctors who have been betting. When I say addiction, this is something you keep doing even though you know it is harmful to you,” he said.

According to him, the effects of addiction can be medical, social, or legal, stressing that persistent gambling despite negative consequences is a clear sign of a disorder.

He explained that one of the major warning signs of gambling addiction is chasing losses, where individuals continue betting in the hope of recovering money they have already lost.

“The betting companies are in business to make money, yet the people who bet believe they will make money out of them. They see these companies always expanding, but they still believe they will win,” he stated.

Dr. Dordoye described gambling as an adult game that should only involve disposable income that would not affect one’s livelihood if lost.

However, he noted that many people now gamble with the expectation of becoming wealthy, a mindset he described as dangerous and unrealistic.

“When people begin to bet hoping that they are going to reap in money, that is obviously a delusion and that is a sickness because nobody wins betting and becomes rich,” he said.

He further observed that even individuals who win jackpots often fall deeper into the cycle of addiction because they believe they can repeatedly win large sums.

“Unfortunately for them, they believe they will hit the next jackpot again, so they put in every money they won the first time,” he added.

The Mental Health Authority boss also expressed alarm over the increasing involvement of students in gambling activities, revealing that betting has become common among university and senior high school students.

“We have students in the university betting, we have high school students betting. Is that serious? It’s quite unfortunate we are not really looking into it, but as a people, that is a time bomb,” he warned.

Dr. Dordoye called for urgent national attention to the issue, cautioning that failure to address the growing betting culture among the youth could have severe social and mental health consequences for the country.