Over $100k worth of free support to problem gamblers

Gambless first big milestone offers a glimpse into where its users come from and confirms the importance of mhealth support

The release of Gambless, a new mobile app tackling gambling addiction, was announced last September. The app, which is accessible on both iOS and Android devices, offers resources to problem gamblers, including informative articles, a self-care diary, coping-skills exercises, diagnostic tests and an emergency chatbot.
Today, less than 5 months later, Gambless announces to have already given away several hundred free codes, allowing access its psycho-educational resources, amounting to over $120.000.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
After the initial months of organic growth, at the beginning of December, Gambless decided to start surveying its users about their location and their most frequented gambling operators.
These data was gathered anonymously, and now it gives a better understanding of its userbase: in the past 8 weeks, 27% of registered users came from the United Kingdom and Ireland, 24% from the USA, 12% are Australians, 10% Italians and 5% Canadians. And while there are people registering from all over the world (30+ countries), a handful of countries account for more than 3/4 of its users.

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The pie doesn’t aim to give a global picture of the gambling addiction issue, considering that at the moment Gambless is available in just 3 languages (EN, IT and RU). But it offers an interesting vantage point.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND MHEALTH
Gambless has been created and developed by the same team of psychologist who designed Mindspa, another mobile app targeting a broader audience on mental health topics. Combined, the two apps count over 250,000 registered users in less than a year, with 000s of positive reviews.
Studies show that problem gambling often overlaps with other issues. 43% of problem gamblers have also alcohol issues, 25% struggle with drugs, 60% have comorbidity with anxiety and depression, and the list goes on. And from its conception, Gambless mission has been to provide prevention and support to problem gamblers, with a holistic approach on mental health.
Gambless aims to address first and foremost the mental health of vulnerable individuals, offering programs covering emotional intelligence, loneliness, stress, jealousy, and features a collection of hundreds of coping skill exercises on feelings like anger, anxiety, resentment, self-distrust, frustration, sadness, guilt, apathy, fear, and so on.
In this context, it is also extremely important that the role of mhealth (mobile health) support.
Smartphones nowadays have a penetration of over 80% in many countries. Thus, thanks to mhealth, treatment and other resources can be accessed more easily, regardless of socio-demographic aspects. Furthermore, support via mobile phone gives that sense of privacy that often prevents problem gamblers from getting the help they need.

GAMBLESS PLEDGE
It is a known fact that only between 1 and 3 percent of problem gamblers get support each year. With the help of technology, there is the opportunity to both increase awareness and create a diverse and more accessible landscape of support options. And Gambless vows to take its active part to this change.