It is not known how many people are addicted to gambling in Montenegro, because there are no surveys conducted in the general population, on the basis of which such data would be available. That is why we cannot talk about where, in this sense, the place of Montenegro is in relation to the number of addicts in Europe.
This, among other things, stems from the answers given to "Vijesta" by interlocutors from the "Dobrota" Special Hospital for Psychiatry in Kotor, the "Kakaricka gora" Public Institution in Podgorica and the Association for Democratic Prosperity (ADP) ZID.
Those who work with addicts said that in the last few years they have been registering a greater number of those seeking help and applying for treatment. According to the Ju "Kakaricka gora", among other things, the fact that gambling has become more available through online platforms has contributed to the increase in the number of addicts.
The Montenegro Bet Association announced recently that Montenegro is "at the very bottom of the European list of gambling addicts". They also stated that, according to the data of the "Kakaricka gora" JU, "only 13 persons who are being treated for addiction to games of chance" are currently registered in Montenegro.
From that institution, they confirmed to "Vijesta" that they currently have 13 clients due to problems with gambling addiction, but they also said that this number is "worrying":
"This number of clients who are addicted to gambling and sought help in our institution is worrying because the percentage of clients who had this problem was much smaller, so in previous years we had an average of three to five clients in the total number of our clients percent, today it is a significantly higher percentage". We cannot talk about precise numbers when it comes to the number of gambling addicts in the general population in Montenegro, because there are no studies we could rely on," they told "Vijesti".
At the end of last year, there were 1.000 registered betting shops, 153 slot machines, three casinos and one lottery in Montenegro.
Macic: Advertising of betting should be banned
The Kotor hospital also said that there is no data.
"As far as I know, Montenegro does not have data on the number of gambling addicts, so we do not know from which sources the Montenegro Bet Association found the information that 'Montenegro is at the very bottom of the European list of gambling addicts.' No nation is immune to any kind of addiction, so it can be said that the number of addicts is the same as in other countries. Also, I think there are no estimates on the number of gambling addicts in Montenegro," said Dr Aleksandar Macic, director of the Special Hospital for Psychiatry "Dobrota" in Kotor.
As he added, the state, as far as he knows, has not adopted "any programs and strategies related to reducing the number of gambling addicts."
In the parliamentary procedure is the Proposal for the Law on Amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax, which stipulates that all profits will be taxed at 15 percent. The Montenegro Bet Association says that this will not solve the problem of addiction, "it will make it even worse". Due to the announced changes in regulations, they also organized the signing of a petition.
Dr. Mačić, however, says that "the introduction of tax on winnings from games of chance has nothing to do with the mentioned issue, but is related to the state budget, and a large number of countries have this tax."
"The petition launched by the Montenegro Bet Association is quite morbid, and the question arises as to who are the signatories of that petition and how many addicts there are among them," he said.
His position is that "advertising of betting should be banned".
"Because the advertisements are designed in such a way, perhaps unintentionally, that they encourage addiction," said the director of the Special Hospital for Psychiatry in Dobrota.
There is no special program for the treatment of gambling addiction in that hospital.
Psychologist Maja Lešnjak for several years, through counseling and psychotherapy treatment for people who gamble at a pathological level, he has been working at the "Entera" Counseling Center in Podgorica. Since 2013, when the program has been implemented at the Counseling Center, between 10 and 20 people start treatment each year.
"However, more family members come for consultations, which indicates that this problem has been present in Montenegro for many years. As part of the counseling center, we also worked on prevention, and our experiences in working with young people show that the problem with gambling is present to a significant extent even among minors," she said.
And from "Kakaricka" they say that they are often asked for support and help by minors, "who are in the early stages of the development of this disease". However, they cannot provide them with help, because that institution provides treatment exclusively to adults.
Necessary register
"The formation of a registry of gambling addicts can significantly affect the reduction of the availability of betting channels to all those who are in trouble, which can result in a lower number of relapses after treatment," they say.
Speaking about official statistics, they said that the only survey available is from the Institute of Public Health (IJZ) from 2019 (European School Survey on Alcohol and Other Drugs, ESPAD).
According to these data, frequent gambling is present on average among 15 percent of surveyed high school students in 35 European countries, among which Montenegro and Italy share the second place, according to the percentage of high school students who had gambling experience.
"However, Montenegro is the first in Europe in terms of the number of high school students who have a tendency to excessive gambling, which enters the zone of addiction. The findings of the IJZ state that more than a quarter of boys under the age of 16 can be considered to have a problem with gambling", they said from "Kakaricka" and added that, when talking about statistics, one must be precise "bearing in mind that this is a problem which is family and social and affects not only the individual who gambles, but his entire environment".
Young people start from the age of seven
Because it does not only involve addicts, psychologist Maja Lešnjak says that the gambling problem must be approached systematically:
"It is important to develop preventive programs, above all in primary and secondary schools. Our experiences also show that young people start gambling from the age of seven, so I think it is important to involve parents and teachers in prevention work and point out the numerous consequences that gambling addiction has on the mental and physical health of a person who is in trouble. family, education or profession, and therefore on the whole society".
The Ministry of Health and the IJZ did not respond to the questions of the newsroom on this topic.
"Vijesti" published a similar text at the end of February, when an interviewee from the Clinic for Addiction Diseases in Belgrade said that on average one patient comes to them from Montenegro per month.
Head of the Clinic, cf. dr Ivica Mladenovic, a specialist in psychiatry and a subspecialist in addiction diseases, said then that among the local patients, as well as the patients referred for treatment from Montenegro, the majority are young people aged 18 to 30.
Motivation the way to success
Pathological gambling is a chronic disease, and treatment outcomes depend on the motivation, but also the personal capacities of the clients, say the "Kakaricka gora" JU.
"This means that even with a change, relapses (repeatedly reaching for an addictive substance, in this case a cube) occur, and are an integral part of the clinical picture of addiction," they told "Vijesta".
In that institution, treatment on a residential basis lasts one year. Work with the client, they explain, includes individual and group psychotherapy, which are the basis of treatment, then psychological workshops, work-occupational therapy, sports and recreational activities. Treatment, they add from "Kakaricka", requires active involvement of the client in the recovery process.
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