I started gambling at seven - mobile betting was like Vegas in my pocket

Diane Barnes started helping her granny play slot machines when she was seven.

"I used to stand on a stool and put the money in for her," she said.

"I would try and memorise the reels. Some part of me thought there was a method or logic to it."

The 51-year-old from Crieff in Perthshire went to bingo halls throughout her childhood and later developed a gambling addiction.

Diane said the advent of mobile gambling was like "having Las Vegas in my pocket".

"It's so hard to get away from it," she said. "Every day, I have to make a conscious effort to stay away from that first bet."

The introduction of online gambling in the late 1990s was a turning point.

Diane moved to Lerwick in Shetland in 1998, a place with no bookmakers or casinos. But the lure of her phone was hard to resist.

"When I had the opportunity to gamble 24/7, I realised I wasn't in control. It was too easy."

Diane said gambling became a form of escapism after some "bad life choices".

"I would go into toilets with my phone and sit there and gamble," she said.

"I was lost in the world of gambling. It wasn't about the money, I was constantly trying to fill a void in me that had been there for a long time."

Diane said she tried to take her own life 13 years ago but has been in recovery for a number of years now for gambling and alcohol addiction, after receiving remote support through Gamblers Anonymous Scotland.

"Now I have peace, serenity and time for my family and friends", she said.

She believes she has spent "half her life" being ashamed, and the other half trying to help people and make amends.

She recently graduated from the University of the Highlands and Islands with a certificate in counselling and feels she has been given "a second chance".

She is calling for more services in rural and island locations where, she says, it can be harder for people to be open and honest about their problems.

She said: "Like any addiction in a smaller place, you worry people are going to make judgements.

"Gambling addiction ruins lives, it ruins families. I know people with credit scores wrecked for lives, all because of something that started so innocently.

"It shouldn't be as hard as it is to get help."

Diane has welcomed a new programme from GamCare, the charity that runs Scotland's National Gambling Helpline.

It has launched free treatment sessions for people in Shetland, Orkney, the Highlands and the Western Isles.

The organisation offers online talking therapy aimed at supporting recovery from gambling harm.

The charity is offering free online treatment with trained practitioners using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

The service has funding from the Scottish government, under its share of the UK-wide gambling levy, until March 2029.

Lorraine Hannah, the charity's outreach and engagement practitioner, said online prize giveaways and games were a problem in the Highlands and islands.

"Anecdotally, I've heard it's quite a big issue because of social isolation, boredom and more downtime," she said.

"People can pick up their phones and gamble 24/7."

She added that gambling affected relationships, finances, and mental health.

The charity provides confidential one-to-one help for over-18s and can also set up software to restrict certain mobile apps and banking blocks for gambling websites.

"Recovery is possible for everyone," she said. "There's no stigma, it's not shameful. Please don't suffer in silence."

Former Celtic player John Hartson had a gambling addiction for about 20 years and has spoken openly how it had almost cost him his life.

After receiving help from Gamblers Anonymous up to three times a week he has now been abstinent for 17 years.

He told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast: "When you start gambling you never in a million years think that you're going to become an addict.

"Eventually I had to go and do something about it. I'd hit rock bottom."

"Three times more gambling addicts take their lives than any other addicts – that's how serious it is," he said.

"When you start gambling you start taking risks and are not seeing the danger signs.

"It's the silent addiction – you can hide it very well as you don't have to put anything in your body – it's absolutely everywhere now. It's an epidemic."

The former footballer set up the John Hartson Gambling and Recovery Workshop about two years ago and has run workshops for Barlinnie, Glasgow City Council, Shetland Council and Citizens Advice, among others.

"It saved my life going to Gamblers Anonymous," he said. "I am very proud to have got myself into the situation I'm in now. I can focus on a lot more things and I'm doing a counselling course so things are ok now."

Scotland's Public Health Minister Maree Todd said the government was working with partners to tackle gambling harms, with investment of £7.9m announced earlier this year.

She said the focus was on "prevention and improving treatment referral pathways".

The UK government said it was committed to reducing harmful gambling and strengthening protections for those at risk.

"We have introduced a stake limit for online slot games and a statutory levy raising £100m each year for research and treatment, as well as cracking down on illegal operators who target vulnerable British consumers," a spokesperson said.

The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents gambling firms, said the new statutory levy was delivering more than £100m a year for research, prevention and treatment.

A spokesman said: "BGC members continue to raise standards and support measures which aim to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm through a wide range of safer gambling protections, including online monitoring of play, deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion tools."