Why my period made my gambling addiction worse

Abby Harvey's gambling addiction was so severe that she could not drive for 20 minutes without stopping to place a bet, and felt the urges intensify just before and during her period.

“To overcome my emotions, I would use gambling as a coping strategy,” said Abbie, who lost more than £20,000 during her decade-long battle with addiction.

Abby is not alone. Kiki Marriott, also a former gambling addict, noticed an increase in gambling in the week before her period.

Both women were treated at Parkland Place rehabilitation center in north Wales, where clinical staff say they believe the menstrual cycle may influence gaming behaviour.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham are now working with Gordon Moody's anti-gambling charity to establish whether there is a link between hormonal fluctuations caused by menstruation, ovulation, menopause and childbirth and gambling addiction.

Warning: This article contains references to suicide.

Abby mostly played on her phone using online slots.

“The intrigue, the lies – it has taken over my whole life,” said the 34-year-old from Barry in south Wales.

“I did it at four in the morning, I did it at two in the afternoon. I would wake up in the middle of the night and all I wanted to do was gamble online.”

“I was driving home from my sister's, which is about 20 minutes away, and I couldn't even wait 20 minutes before stopping and playing online slots.”

Like Abby, Kiki also played on her phone, often for more than 24 hours until she ran out of money.

A 40-year-old woman said her gambling addiction drove her to suicide.

“I didn’t care whether I lived or died. It was like a slow and painful death,” Kiki told the BBC.

“I used to pray about death and just think, 'I can't wait for this to be over.'

“Your mindset was to do whatever you needed to do to be able to gamble.

“I didn’t buy food, I didn’t have gas, the only reason I had electricity and Wi-Fi was because I needed it to play.”

Kiki noticed that in the week before her period her gambling habits increased.

“Impulsiveness and compulsive behavior are more likely to come into play in the week before my period – and that's when I'll make even worse decisions that week,” said Kiki, from Woolwich, south-east London.

“I think there is a big connection between poor decision making and impulsive behavior during the menstrual cycle.”

Kiki said she hit her “catastrophic rock bottom” when she stole a significant amount of money from her ex-partner's bank account to gamble with it.

“I wrote letters to the train driver, the passengers and apologized for the trauma I was going to cause them by taking my own life at the station,” she said.

Instead, Kiki called the National GamCare Helpline, an organization that provides free support to anyone affected by gambling harm.

“I knew my death would have caused more trauma to other people, but I just couldn't do it,” she said.

The BBC was given rare access to Parkland Place, the rehab center in Colwyn Bay, Co Conwy, where Abbie and Kiki were treated for their addictions.

The 16-bed unit, run by gambling charity Adferiad, addresses gambling, alcoholism and drug addiction issues through group sessions and one-to-one counselling.

Despite the mixed gender, only 25% of people arriving for treatment are women.

Cheryl Williams, the center's manager, acknowledged the challenges women may face during the six-week program.

“They may be the children's primary caregivers,” she said.

“There's a stigma because they're also seen as housewives, so they can't necessarily afford the time to go to rehab.”

“But in reality it's only a small part of their lives compared to what they missed out on by gambling.”

Cheryl said the Parkland Place team recognized the impact of the menstrual cycle on gaming behavior.

“We've noticed that in women who get their period, gambling increases before their period starts,” she said. “We're taking that into account while they're here.”

Gordon Moody's charity Gambling Harms, which has treatment centers across the country, said the number of women gambling in the UK, as well as the number of women with gambling addiction, is at an all-time high.

Dr Rosalind Baker-Frampton, the charity's clinical director, said she had noticed women were more likely to gamble during hormonal fluctuations.

“You're more likely to engage in risky behavior during ovulation, which is when the egg is released,” she said.

“This is the time when you are most fertile. We also know this before a woman's period when her progesterone levels drop.

“This includes things like chasing losses, spending more money than they want to spend, staying longer than they would otherwise choose to stay.”

“They end up spending more money and making riskier gambling choices and not stopping at other points in their cycle.”

The charity said its research project with the University of Birmingham will take around four years to complete.

“We're going to follow the women who come to our treatment center in Wolverhampton, so everyone who comes will have the opportunity to take part in the study,” Rosalind said.

The Gambling Commission, which licenses and regulates commercial gambling, said it is “always interested in new research” that will “help inform our ongoing commitment to making gambling safer.”

Researchers will also study whether hormone-regulating drugs can help with addiction.

“We have a theory that women who take the pill or undergo hormone replacement therapy, because their hormones are at more stable levels throughout the month, are less likely to experience intense gambling urges,” Rosalind added.

Kiki said she is now aware of her triggers and tendencies to gamble at certain points in her menstrual cycle and has a strategy for dealing with them.

“For me, it has made a huge difference in how I handle situations in those specific weeks of my cycle,” she said.

“I know I need to infuse myself with love the week before my period, I know I need to use my tools more, I need to be there for other women in recovery, I need to lean on my group.”

She encourages further research into women's health and addiction.

“I think there's still a lot of work to be done when it comes to your menstrual cycle and addiction and how that might correlate with making these bad decisions.”

If you are affected by the issues raised in this story, BBC Action Line contains a list of organizations that can provide support.