People will write articles with the view they want to propagate in many cases.
They’ll quote the statistics they like, and ignore the ones they don’t like. Same thing if anyone quoted this thread. They’ll assign causes when no cause has been established. There’s really no way to avoid that.
Open discussions on the issue help things, IMO.
Problem gamblers may have a high risk of suicide because they (also already were or) turned into problem gamblers or problem drinkers. Maybe the gambling caused the divorce. Maybe the drinking caused the divorce. Maybe the divorce turned them toward drinking and gambling before the suicide.
We could take a set of data with those factors involved, and attribute the suicide to any of those factors.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics. We’ve all heard that. If they wanted to quote the thread, they should give a specific reference. If a “study” or “poll” comes out and they don’t reveal the methodology, it’s typically not so meaningful. A quote without context is also the same way. Politicians make an art out of both.
While I have my doubts sometimes, I’d like to think that most of us here have an academic attitude. I’ve learned a lot reading this thread. People who are on the fence with gambling issues might learn a lot as well.