Table 10 Examples of different categories of stigma associated with gambling disorder in the aggregated dataset

132

‘stupid and weak meets strong and smart, is not hate but that's just how I see it’

Personal insult

166

‘Mario^b takes no responsibility for himself and his actions it seems’

Not taking responsibility

1

‘The gambler blames others instead of himself’

Blaming others

53

‘Those who play and become addicted have only themselves to blame’

Own fault

294

‘@Dr. D The fact that addiction is always and repeatedly seen as a disease is an absolute problem. With this argumentation, all responsibility is swept away. Addiction is a choice. You can't do anything for a disease. That is an immense difference. That's where I criticise all psychologists and doctors. It's terrible.’

Gambling addiction is not an addictive disease

684

‘Good that you say that. The thought came to me immediately. In the "self-determined" system that we want (with all its freedoms and duties), we have to reckon with outliers. Otherwise we would have to regulate everyone and that would take away our freedom.’

Restriction of personal freedom

628

‘I can understand both sides, but I would never blame an arcade owner, because at the end of the day there are so many addictions. Take shopping addiction, for example. Do you want to blame clothes manufacturers and ask them, "Why do you make clothes?’

Relativising gambling addiction

568

‘@Gloria Viktoria I was an addict myself and that's why I have this opinion. it's always your own decision if and how you do something. if you look for excuses afterwards and don't think that it was/is your fault, I think it just shows how weak the person is. and I don't even mean that in a bad way ^^ a simple example would be do you cheat on your partner because you feel the need to or don't do it because it's against your morals? a simple decision for everyone and yet some people do it. do you want to tell me that the person is not responsible for that?’

Self-stigmatisation