Gaming Commission sensitises ATU students on gambling addiction, mental health 

The Gaming Commission has organised a sensitisation programme for students of the Accra Technical University (ATU) to raise awareness on gambling addiction and mental wellness.

The students were taken through the negative effects of excessive gambling and how it affected their mental health and wellbeing.

The event formed part of the Commission’s commemoration of the Purple Month, a mental health awareness initiative aimed at promoting emotional well-being and reducing stigma around mental illness throughout the month of May.

The Ghana Health Service and the Mental Health Authority declared May as a Purple Month to raise awareness on mental health, combat stigma, and celebrate the possibility of recovery.

Mr Emmanuel Siisi Quainoo, the Acting Commissioner, Gaming Commission, said the event was to educate students against excessive gambling and the associated risks.

He said as students with curiousity about gambling and betting, it was important that they were sensitised on the adverse effects of irresponsible gaming to safeguard their future.

“As a Commission, we found it necessary to educate the students to become ambassadors against gambling addiction and spread the message to other young people against irresponsible gambling,” he added.

Mr Quainoo said irresponsible gambling had led some young people, including students, into associated anxiety, depression, self-isolation, loss of jobs, and relationships.

He said to curb the growing gambling addiction, the Commission had teamed up with Gaming Operators to raise awareness about gambling addiction to students in tertiary institutions.

Ms Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey Constituency, advised the students to always open-up about their challenges and not to keep it to themselves.

“By sharing your concerns with others, particularly parents and counselors, you will be relieving yourselves of the mental burden that comes with keeping it within yourselves,’ she said.

Dr Agyemang-Rawlings emphasised the importance of genuine human connection, particularly in an era where social media had increasingly replaced face-to-face interactions.

“Let us care for each other in a world that has an inverse relationship between social media and human-human connection,” she added.

Source: GNA

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