What has gotten the SOS worried is that many of these callers tend to have a risk of suicide.
Between April 2010 and March 2011, it received about 28,000 crisis calls, of which 2,300 were related to debt problems.
Calls relating to loan shark problems during that period saw a jump of 61.5 per cent to 352 cases compared to between April 2009 and March 2010.
Similarly, gambling problems accounted for 196 calls, an increase of 48.5 per cent.
Most callers were men.
With the opening of the two casinos in 2010, SOS said the increase did not come entirely unexpected.
Tan Yoke Yin, deputy director of Samaritans of Singapore, said: "We hear callers talk about moneylenders chasing after them.
"And it can be very, very stressful when they have to face lenders pushing them to make certain payments, whether they're legal or illegal.
Besides a 24-hour counselling support, SOS also directs clients to other channels of help.
These include the National Council on Problem Gambling, Credit Counselling Singapore and the various Family Service Centres.
The increase in numbers may also be due to greater awareness, and it's worth noting that many of these callers did so voluntarily.
SOS expects numbers to go up, and said it's monitoring the situation carefully.
ORIGINAL SOURCE
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