How Can I Tell If My Gambling or Someone Else's Gambling Is Becoming a Problem?

Gambling harms can be hard to spot, especially because they often build up gradually rather than appearing as one obvious crisis. GambleAware, a Great Britain-based gambling help service, offers free self-assessment tools that can help you get a clearer picture: a 7-question gambling harms self-assessment for your own gambling, a friends and family check-in for someone else's, and a spend calculator that shows the time and money involved. These tools don't diagnose anything — they give you tailored information and point you toward support if you want it.

Signs that gambling may be causing harm

GambleAware notes that gambling harms can be difficult to recognise, which is why understanding the signs is described as an important step toward getting the right support. Rather than relying on a single "red flag," it helps to look at whether gambling is affecting areas of life such as:

• Money — spending more than intended, borrowing to gamble, or difficulty covering normal expenses
• Time — gambling (including online) taking up more of your day than you planned
• Feelings — worry, guilt, secrecy, or feeling out of control around gambling
• Relationships and daily life — tension with people close to you, or gambling crowding out other activities

If any of these feel familiar, that's a reasonable point to check in with a structured tool rather than trying to judge it alone.

Self-assessment tools on GambleAware

GambleAware's tools page lists several free options, each aimed at a slightly different situation.

Each tool is framed as a way to get insight and tailored advice — not as a test you pass or fail.

Using the 7-question self-assessment

The gambling harms self-assessment is the most direct way to answer "is this becoming a problem for me?"

1. Start the assessment from the tools section of the site.
2. Answer the 7 questions about how gambling might be affecting you.
3. Read the tailored result — the site describes this as an insight into how gambling may be affecting you, along with advice and support should you need it.

The point of the short format is that it's quick enough to actually finish, and the output is personalised rather than generic.

Checking in on someone else's gambling

If your concern is about a friend or family member, the friends and family check-in is designed for that situation. It asks short questions and returns information on what you can do and what you need to know to navigate the situation. GambleAware also has a separate advice section on supporting someone else, which covers helping both them and yourself.

A practical way to use these together: run the check-in first to orient yourself, then read the supporting-someone-else advice for the longer-term picture.

Seeing the time and money clearly

The spend calculator is useful when the question is less "am I harmed?" and more "how much is this actually costing me?" It takes a few minutes and gives a better understanding of the time and money you spend gambling, alongside recommendations to reduce your risk. For many people, the total is the first concrete number they've seen, which makes it easier to decide whether to set limits or stop.

Where to go next

Depending on what the tools surface, GambleAware points to several next steps:

• Local support — a service finder that searches by postcode for free, confidential and tailored support near you, whether for your own gambling or someone else's. You can also view all support providers.
• Blocking and self-exclusion — free gambling blocking tools and services if you want to stop or limit your gambling and feel more in control.
• Money and finances — advice on setting spending limits, tracking expenses, and finding support for debt.
• Talking to someone — free, confidential support in Great Britain by phone or online chat, one-to-one with an adviser.

None of these require you to have already decided anything. The self-assessment tools exist precisely so you can get an informed view before choosing what to do.