Tarred with the same brush: An initial inquiry into courtesy stigma and problem gambling

Introduction: This study explores the relative intensity of courtesy stigma around problem gambling to other stigmatized conditions, and the ways in which courtesy stigma (or fear thereof) impacts problem gambling. Method: We draw on data from a government-commissioned national survey in a southern Caribbean country (n = 1,008). Comparative t-tests and multiple regression (ordinary least squares) were used to identify relative intensity and what impacts courtesy stigma of problem gambling, respectively. Statistical significance was set up at P < 0.05. Results: Problem gambling by a family member elicits more shame/embarrassment (M = 1.75) than using a wheelchair (M = 1.15) and having a mental illness (M = 1.22), but less shame than having a drug problem (M = 2.12) and on par with having an alcohol problem (M = 1.79, ns). With respect to courtesy stigma around problem gambling, the extents to which one considers various activities ‘gambling’ (b = -0.031, B = -0.068), one gambles him or herself (b = -0.015, B = -0.127), and the quality of experience with gambling (i.e. positive/negative; b = -0.038 B = -0.095) impacts potential embarrassment of a family member with a gambling problem. Catholics (b = 0.357, B = 0.355) and Hindus (b = 0.378, B = 0.376) were more likely to be embarrassed or ashamed than Anglicans, Muslims, Protestants, and other religions. Additionally, the unemployed (b = 0.282, B = 0.150) and the self-employed (b = 0.292, B = 0.290) were more likely to be embarrassed of a family member with a gambling problem. Discussion and conclusions: Normalization of gambling in the family impacts how much shame or embarrassment one feels about their problem-gambling family member. Moreover, some religions (Catholic and Hindu) and economic positioning (unemployed and self-employed) may affect embarrassment or shame of problem gambling family members

Gambling Among Emerging Adults: How Gender and Risk Level Influence Associated Problem Behaviours

This study investigates mental health and substance use problems associated with gambling among Canadian emerging adults (ages 18–20 years). Drawing on a cross-sectional wave of 624 (47.8% male) participants from the Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults, our findings suggest that among emerging adults, problem gambling should be understood as part of a wider syndrome. The profile of syndromic associations varies with both problem gambling risk level and gender. With respect to risk level, regression models indicate that, relative to no-risk gamblers, lower risk gamblers are more likely to use drugs and alcohol, whereas higher risk gamblers report greater symptoms of depression and anxiety. Males and females present different barriers to recovery: High-risk female gamblers are more likely to rely on escape-avoidance coping mechanisms, whereas their male counterparts tend to lack perceived social support. Given the centrality of these two variables and the lack of literature addressing how they interact, we conclude that further research is needed to understand how gender and gambling severity interact to simultaneously influence gambling-related behaviours among emerging adults. RésuméCette étude porte sur les problèmes de santé mentale et de toxicomanie associés au jeu chez les jeunes adultes canadiens (âgés de 18 à 20 ans). Fondés sur une vague transversale de 624 participants (47,8% d’hommes) de l’étude longitudinale des jeunes adultes du Manitoba (MLSYA), nos résultats laissent entendre que, parmi les jeunes adultes, le jeu problématique devrait être abordé comme faisant partie d’un syndrome plus vaste. Le profil des associations syndromiques varie selon le niveau de risque de jeu problématique et le genre. En ce qui concerne le niveau de risque, les modèles de régression indiquent que, par rapport aux joueurs sans risque, les joueurs à faible risque sont plus susceptibles de consommer de la drogue et de l’alcool, tandis que les joueurs à risque plus élevé montrent des symptômes plus importants de dépression et d’anxiété. En parallèle, les hommes et les femmes rencontrent différents obstacles au rétablissement : les joueuses à haut risque sont plus susceptibles de compter sur des mécanismes d’adaptation comme l’échappement ou l’évitement, tandis que leurs homologues masculins ont tendance à manquer de soutien social perçu. Compte tenu de la centralité de ces deux variables et du manque de littérature traitant de leurs interactions, nous concluons qu’il est nécessaire de poursuivre les recherches pour comprendre les interactions entre le genre et la gravité du jeu pathologique afin d’influencer simultanément les comportements liés au jeu chez les jeunes adultes.</jats:p

Our Madness is Invisible: Notes on Being Privileged (Non)Disabled Researchers

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; This autoethnographic piece traces how two researchers continually negotiate their privileges, successes, insecurities, challenges, and (non)disabled identities in the neoliberal academy. We interrogate the co-constitution of identity of (1) a mentally disabled researcher and graduate student who researches madness in the midst of dealing with his own struggles maintaining a professional identity and repairing a fractured self; (2) a non-disabled doctoral student who has found academic success, but has had his life stalled multiple times by significant mental health challenges. We propose the concept of the privileged (non)disabled self to capture how researchers become entangled in permanent or temporal disabilities while simultaneously negotiating their accomplishments. We encourage researchers not to sideline their reflections on privilege and disability as irrelevant, but continually examine their identities in order to reveal potential avenues for emancipation.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; </jats:p

Patient Resistance to Psychiatric Discourse and Power

Drawing on 5090 English reviews of 486 psychiatrists working in Canada posted on ratemds.com, this study explores how mental health service users refuse to become subjectivized by psychiatric discourse and power. We interrogate how digital mediums provide mental health service users with a community of critique to regain control over settings where there are many power imbalances. We argue that websites like ratemds.com act as a digital agora in which people are afforded the ability to make the personal political. Through critiquing their own doctors, mental health service users invert the question of what is “wrong” with them to what is “wrong” with agents of the psychiatric apparatus. By regaining a say over their treatment/conditions and insisting doctors are asking the wrong questions to better control their identities, service users refuse to accept the diagnoses, pathologies, and practices imposed on them. We discuss how their transgression in this forum provides new insights into psychiatric resistance that is of special interest to scholars and service users positioned in the Mad Studies movement

Patient Resistance to Psychiatric Discourse and Power

Drawing on 5090 English reviews of 486 psychiatrists working in Canada posted on ratemds.com, this study explores how mental health service users refuse to become subjectivized by psychiatric discourse and power. We interrogate how digital mediums provide mental health service users with a community of critique to regain control over settings where there are many power imbalances. We argue that websites like ratemds.com act as a digital agora in which people are afforded the ability to make the personal political. Through critiquing their own doctors, mental health service users invert the question of what is “wrong” with them to what is “wrong” with agents of the psychiatric apparatus. By regaining a say over their treatment/conditions and insisting doctors are asking the wrong questions to better control their identities, service users refuse to accept the diagnoses, pathologies, and practices imposed on them. We discuss how their transgression in this forum provides new insights into psychiatric resistance that is of special interest to scholars and service users positioned in the Mad Studies movement