Pathological gambling has evolved significantly in the Valencian Community. While two decades ago slot machines and gaming halls were the main focus, today sports betting, digital platforms, and the combination with other addictions shape a more complex reality. This is reflected in a study by Patim based on data from 2001 to 2025, which analyzed the care of approximately 600 people with pathological gambling problems.
The organization highlights that the profile of those attended breaks stereotypes: most maintain work activity, family responsibilities, and a high degree of autonomy. They are functional patients who request help when economic, legal, or family consequences make it impossible to hide the problem. Generally, they do not require residential treatment and opt for regular outpatient therapy, integrating it into their daily routine.
"They still arrive with sufficient capacity to undergo outpatient treatment, like someone leaving work and going to a consultation hoping to fix something before it completely collapses," explains Patim president, Francisco López y Segarra. However, maintaining an apparently stable life can delay seeking treatment and make it difficult for their environment to identify the problem.
Regarding gender differences, pathological gambling remains predominantly male. Between 2023 and 2025, 95% of patients were men and 5% women. Patim warns that women tend to seek treatment later due to social stigma and the association of gambling behavior with anxiety, depression, or loneliness.
The consequences of pathological gambling include financial debts, deterioration of family relationships, labor conflicts, and legal issues. 59% of detected legal problems are related to theft or robbery, and 23% to debt situations. The amounts owed exceed 25,000 euros in one out of every four cases.
The research indicates an earlier onset of gambling behavior: nine out of ten patients started as minors, with an average age of onset between 14 and 17 years. However, access to treatment is delayed until their thirties, a time gap that highlights a "clinical silence" driving strategies like the Ludens prevention program, promoted by professor Mariano Chóliz.
Online gambling has gained prominence, especially among those under 35 years old, coexisting with in-person gambling. Sports betting is the main modality among men attended (40%), followed by slot machines (34%).
The Patim team warns that gambling addiction rarely appears in isolation. The combination with alcohol and cocaine is increasingly common, and 64.47% of patients present dual pathology, with associated mental health disorders or coexisting addictions.
Patim emphasizes the decisive role of families and advocates for therapeutic models based on agreement and co-responsibility. They recall that gambling addiction is a chronic illness requiring sustained interventions.
The new player profile necessitates revising prevention strategies. "Addiction can no longer be exclusively associated with severe social exclusion. More and more people maintain an apparently normal life while living with a growing loss of control," the report states.
The entity expresses concern over the expansion of gambling offerings: the number of gaming halls in the Valencian Community has increased by 81% in the last decade. Specialists consider it necessary to reinforce prevention and protection measures for vulnerable groups, as well as to advance towards more restrictive regulation for gaming machines in hospitality establishments.
Patim, celebrating forty years, has assisted over 7,000 people since 1985. It maintains that the phenomenon is explained by the combination of personal vulnerabilities and an increasingly digitized environment. "Health cannot be limited to intervening when damage has already occurred. It must also act on the conditions that favor the problem's emergence," concludes López y Segarra.
