According to the Public Health Agency of Sweden, just over four percent of the Swedish population aged 16-84 have some form of gambling problem. Problem gambling can be seen as a public health problem with negative consequences for individuals health and finances. 

In this work a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews has been done with treatment staff who work with gambling addicts. The aim is to investigate how social relations can affect the ability of gambling addicts to seek help for their gambling addiction and to start and complete a rehabilitation plan. Through interviews and observations in gambling addiction support organizations the study shows how relations that grow in these sessions can help recover from the addiction.  The theories selected for use in this study are Pierrre Bourdieu’s theory och Social Capital and Travis Hirschi´s theory of Social Control. 

The conclusion of this study is that social relations can have a major impact on both the ability to seek help and to complete a treatment program. The results indicate that social relations can be crucial in this regard. As this study is limited in scope, a natural next step would be to conduct a larger study to test the validity of these conclusions.