A new issue brief from Kindbridge Research Institute’s Financial Stability and Responsible Gaming Initiative and Stigma Stand Down argues that military culture, fears about career repercussions and unclear confidentiality protections can keep service members and veterans from seeking help for gambling-related financial harm before it becomes a crisis.
The brief says financial problems tied to gambling often lack visible warning signs and can remain concealed until basic obligations can no longer be met. Service members may fear that disclosure could affect a security clearance, promotion or assignment, while some veterans said they would use only anonymous online therapy because they worried a record might reach their chain of command.
Its assessment draws on a qualitative study of 28 people with gambling disorder, including 24 veterans and four currently serving service members, interviewed between August 2023 and August 2024. Participants described military norms of strength, discipline and emotional control as barriers to asking for treatment. The study also identified gambling’s normalization, limited recognition of its addictive nature in military and VA settings, and inadequate VA treatment options as external obstacles.
The financial consequences can be severe before disclosure occurs. Participants said they typically sought help only after reaching “rock bottom” and being unable to meet basic financial obligations; some veterans interviewed through 50×4Vets waited until divorce or bankruptcy made secrecy impossible. “We need to recognize the warning signs of gambling-related financial harm earlier,” said Dishi Umfleet, executive director of Kindbridge Research Institute, “while also addressing the stigma and career concerns that can keep service members and veterans from seeking help.”
The brief situates the concern in a military population that is younger and predominantly male. It cites data showing that about 15% of adults aged 18 to 34 report concerning gambling behavior, compared with 2% of people 55 and older. It also points to stress, trauma exposure, relocation and family separation as military-service conditions that can increase gambling-related risks and consequences.
Gambling is also widely available to military personnel, according to the Government Accountability Office, through sports betting and privately owned casinos near major Defense Department installations. The department operated 3,141 slot machines at overseas installations in 2016, producing roughly $100 million a year. A Kindbridge assessment of five German military sites found none had standard responsible-gambling measures, including self-exclusion, spending limits or trained staff.
The Defense Department revised its substance-use instruction in January 2025 to include gambling disorder. But the guidance did not fully assign responsibility for key tasks, including designating personnel trained to prevent, assess, diagnose and treat gambling disorders, and military services had not fully updated their own policies. There were 185 active-duty personnel with a gambling-related diagnosis in fiscal 2024.
The new brief calls for confidential self-check tools, specialised telehealth offered through third-party nonprofits, and leadership training that frames early help-seeking as a readiness issue rather than a disciplinary matter. Stigma Stand Down offers an anonymous gambling self-check, telehealth through TRICARE-paneled providers and the 1-844-FREEVET line as confidential entry points.
It also proposes gambling screening during annual health assessments and routine physicals, using tools such as the three-question Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen, alongside financial counselling that directly addresses gambling. The brief acknowledges that a 2024 meta-review warned population-wide screening would yield mostly false positives and recommended focusing on higher-risk groups. Kindbridge researchers and 18 other institutions nevertheless argued that annual screening of all service members is warranted because undetected harm can affect readiness, security and suicide risk.
The issue brief is due to be presented at the Stigma Stand Down Summit in Colorado Springs on Nov. 17.
