Auditor remembers her brother's death after acquiring million-dollar debt with online betting "I only discovered that my brother was addicted to gambling when he died", lamented the lawyer and auditor of the Court of Auditors of the State of Bahia (TCE-BA), Juliana Prates. She lost her brother, also the organization's tax auditor, Otacílio Prates, in December last year, and since then has dedicated herself to activism against online betting, known as "bets". Otacílio started betting in 2023 and, over almost two years, acquired a debt of approximately R$1.5 million. The context of ludopathy was only discovered days before Christmas, when Juliana found a letter left by her brother, where he said he would take his own life. Otacílio was 46 years old and left his wife and a six-year-old daughter. ⚠️ Ludopathy is a disorder characterized by the uncontrollable and compulsive desire to gamble. It is a behavioral dependence similar to substance addiction, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), and with a high impact on mental health. Millionaire debt Juliana decided to become an activist against betting after losing her brother, auditor Otacílio Prates Social networks A survey by the Regional Center for Studies for the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) showed that, in 2025, 19% of internet users in Brazil placed bets online. Otacílio's family and friends did not know that he was part of this percentage. The auditor's sister was informed that he was having financial problems, which were justified as frustrated investments in the stock market and cryptocurrencies. According to Juliana, her brother was hospitalized for psychological issues after having an outburst, but he never told her about his addiction to online gambling. After hospitalization, he took his own life. "In the letter he left, he said that he had lost the meaning of life, that he had lost all his money. He left all his passwords and when I opened his cell phone, I saw several open betting accounts. That day alone, he had bet R$109,000", he said. After the trauma, Juliana decided to use her family loss to warn other people about the dangers of online betting. One of the lawyer's videos went viral on social media, had more than 15 million views and was reposted by actress Luana Piovanni. After that, strangers started looking for her to tell their own stories - some of hope, others similar to her family's. "I went from grieving to fighting, because I don't want anyone to go through this," he said. Silent addiction Psychologist Erich Rapold, a specialist in Clinical Behavioral Therapy, explains that, as it is a legalized activity, gambling addiction has a different stigma than drug addiction, for example. "Betting is seen as legal entertainment, accessible to anyone. Gamblers can look at other people and think: 'if everyone who bets is fine, then I'm the problem,'" he explained. Furthermore, gambling is silent and invisible: the addict can simply gamble on the sofa at home, while watching television with the family, without anyone noticing. Despite this, some signs can be observed by family and friends, such as: excessive use of cell phones, including during the early hours of the morning; irritation when use is stopped; frequent notifications from betting apps; large mood swings between happiness and irritation - normally associated with gains and losses; isolation; requests for financial aid with vague explanations. Otacílio Prates Social networks Another characteristic highlighted by the psychologist is "chasing losses", which is continuing to bet after losing a lot of money, because winning would mean paying off the debt. "These platforms tend to keep people betting just when they need to stop," he said. For auditor Juliana Prates, this is a very serious point of attention. She believes that player profiles should be analyzed and, based on this, platforms should determine a maximum betting limit. "My brother played several games per minute, the platform should have known that he was not a responsible player," he said. Warning signs "What differentiates the habit from the disorder is not the frequency, nor the amount bet in isolation. It is the role, the function that the bet has come to have in the person's life", explains the psychologist. One way for players to self-assess whether betting has become a problem is to ask themselves the following questions: Do you bet increasingly higher amounts to feel the same emotion you felt when you started betting? Are you irritable, anxious or restless when you try to stop? Do you gamble to escape problems or relieve anxiety? After losing, do you bet again trying to recover the loss? Have you ever lied about how much you won or lost? Have you ever committed money that had another purpose for gambling? Has the bet already affected your work and/or studies? According to the psychologist, when the player falls into four of these situations or more, within a period of one year, it is considered a disorder. In these situations, the ideal is to seek treatment, which is done in a multidisciplinary way, with a psychologist, psychiatrist and, often, support groups. 📞 In the capital of Bahia, the Salvador Gamblers Anonymous Group has been serving people with gaming addictions for 18 years. In-person meetings take place every Tuesday and Thursday, in the Pituba neighborhood. The first service is made by calling (71) 98624-0512. During treatment, the professional will help the person with the disorder to understand where the addiction comes from and build mechanisms to overcome it. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide support to the family, which is generally impacted emotionally, psychologically and financially by ludopathy. In addition to being brothers, Juliana and Otacílio were colleagues at TCE Social networks READ ALSO Desenrola 2.0 has close to R$1 billion in debts renegotiated Students who join Desenrola Fies will be prohibited from placing bets online Understand the controversy between Virginia Fonseca and Luana Piovani Watch videos from g1 and TV Bahia 💻