If you keep gambling with borrowed money and your mood stays low, call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline) first, then hand your bank cards and payment passwords to a family member to manage

High value
Evidence B
Buys life
Free
Takes minutes
Some willpower

In plain words

People who have been seen at a hospital for a gambling problem die by suicide at 15 times the rate of people their age, and die from all causes at 1.8 times the rate. The signal that can tell ahead of time who will die by suicide is depression. So if you are gambling with borrowed money and your mood stays low, call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline) first.

Cost: Free. Make one phone call. Give your bank cards, payment passwords and lending apps to a family member to manage. The hard part is first admitting you can't control it.
What you get: A Swedish national register study identified 2099 people diagnosed with gambling disorder by specialists from 2005 to 2016. Gambling disorder means being unable to stop gambling, to the point that it harms your life. Compared with Swedes of the same age, these people aged 20 to 74 had 1.8 times the overall death rate and 15 times the suicide death rate (these two figures are standardized mortality ratios, SMR). During follow-up 67 people died, of whom 21 died by suicide. What predicted death by suicide was depression. In 2023 the authors issued a correction: for men suicide was 12.1 times and for women 16.1 times. Since May 1, 2025, dialing 12356 anywhere in China connects to a psychological support hotline, open at least 18 hours a day (Sweden / China).
Notes: Why grade B: there is only one study, and it counts only people who were seen by a specialist. Those people are more severely ill, so the 15 times can't be applied to everyone who plays cards. Handing money to a family member is a rule of thumb with no direct research; on its own it is grade C. For the legal red lines on gambling, see §9.13 (don't take a cut, don't play online gambling). For whether the family should pay off someone's gambling debts, see §8.44 (gambling debts are not joint marital debts). For what to do once a suicidal thought comes up, see §1.32 (tell one person near you first). The beneficiary is mainly you, and family members who notice the early signs can also take the person through this item.
Evidence grade: B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
Sources: Karlsson A, Håkansson A. (2018). Gambling disorder, increased mortality, suicidality, and associated comorbidity: A longitudinal nationwide register study. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 7(4), 1091–1099. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.112
Karlsson A, Håkansson A. (2023). Corrigendum to: Gambling disorder, increased mortality, suicidality, and associated comorbidity. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 12(1), 302. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2023.10000
国家卫生健康委 (2024). 关于应用"12356"全国统一心理援助热线电话号码的通知（国卫医政函〔2024〕259 号）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202412/content_6994470.htm

Mentioned in

When someone in your family has gambling debts, don't rush to pay them: gambling debts are not protected by law, and money borrowed to gamble is not a joint debt of the couple

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 1, tip 37. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer