Like many other businesses, Spelberoendes förening in Malmö has adapted to the corona virus and switched to digital. Nowadays, the association has both group and individual conversations online.
In the suites of the pandemic, the association has noticed an increased pressure on their support efforts. So far this year, the association has had 209 support calls, which is almost as much as during the whole of last year, when 215 calls were held.
- The support seekers experience it as a stressful situation. They may have lost their jobs or been laid off. It can be stressful when routines are disrupted, says Madeleine Tügel.
In order to meet the growing crowd of people seeking the association's support, they have now extended their telephone hours.
- We want to be more accessible to the group who seek help, says Madeleine Tügel.
Johan is one of the people who has taken help from the association to overcome his gambling addiction. He has been game-free for 2.5 years, but is still involved in many activities that the association organizes, including the digital group talks.
- You can look at people how they feel, you do not really see it online. It was hard in the beginning, and it takes time to adjust, says Johan.
Since he has previously played online, there was some concern in him when the pandemic broke out and much was moved to the internet.
- It has been nervous that everything should be online, but I feel so stable that it feels good anyway, says Johan.