The corrosive effect of “problem gambling” on the educated middle classes is revealed today in an audit from the country’s first NHS gambling centre.

The typical patient seen in the National Problem Gambling Clinic (NPGC) is a white-collar male in his mid-30s who has one or even two jobs to help to fuel his addiction, research seen by The Times shows.

Psychiatrists reported a surprising number of City workers and graduates — some of whom picked up their habit while at university — who keep their gambling entirely hidden from colleagues.

They described the findings as highly unusual compared with normal sociological patterns of gambling addiction, which tended to be greater among the working classes. The economic downturn may have exacerbated money pressures and psychiatric problems but also increased the likelihood of patients seeking help, they added.

The audit at the clinic in Central London — the first free clinician-led service, which opened last year — covered 260 patients with an average age of 36. Two thirds were employed, with many described as “highly functioning”. Only 3 per cent were women.

Scientists are planning collaborative research to explore employment trends and prognostic factors for compulsive gambling. These include an NPGC study of brain patterns and the neurobiology of pathological gamblers, supported by £250,000 from the Medical Research Council.

Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a consultant psychiatrist who set up the clinic, said: “It is very unusual because we are looking at a highly functioning group of individuals overall. These are people who are skilled at what they do and are respected and trusted by their employers.”

Of the intake so far, lifetime gambling debts have ranged from £2,000 to £500,000.

Dr Bowden-Jones said that the flood of referrals was “worrying and fascinating” and emphasised the importance of NHS involvement. Until now gambling treatment has been offered by self-help groups, charities and private clinics that are beyond the budgets of most problem gamblers.

Rates of depression (93 per cent) and anxiety (91 per cent) were much higher than expected, she said, while the proportion of women with gambling addiction problems (3 per cent) appeared to be under-represented in the patient cohort seen so far.

Research carried out in February by the clinic, which is a part of Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, suggested that many patients were having their addictions fuelled by fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and sports betting. Fruit machines and the National Lottery have been found to account for only a few cases. People who come to the clinic — either as self-referrals or on a GP’s recommendation — sign up for nine weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy, concentrating on understanding triggers, developing strategies to counter temptation and controlling their spending cycle. This is followed by after-care to prevent relapse.

The clinic’s psychiatrists said that all but a handful of admissions remained in the programme. A charitable fund is being set up to fund the education and training of suitable health professionals.

Emanuel Moran, a specialist adviser on pathological gambling at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said that the compulsion among high-functioning people was growing, as was the ease in finding opportunities to bet.

“Intelligence can bring you earning power, and that can allow you to keep up your spending. The problem is that gambling does not create the same psychiatric effect as drug addiction — the same chemical rush — so it allows even bright people to carry on gambling without recognising that it is an addiction.”

The Gambling Commission, the industry watchdog, has concluded that there are between 250,000 and 300,000 problem gamblers in Britain — about 0.6 per cent of the adult population.

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