Gambling Addiction

“Current estimates suggest that three percent of the adult population will experience a serious problem with gambling that will result in significant debt, family disruption, job losses, criminal activity or suicide. Pathological gambling affects the gamblers, their families, their employers and the community. As the gamblers go through the phases of their addiction, they spend less

Most people are unaware of the health and psychological effects that gambling addictions can produce. Some outward health problems that

Gambling addiction also know as compulsive gambling is a type of impulse control disorder. (Healthyplace.com, 2008) It is a progressive disease that can wreck havoc on relationships, work, and finances.

There is no specific treatment option that is more beneficial. However, there are a variety of treatment options available for gambling addiction such as Gambler’s Anonymous, which is a support group and psychotherapy that involves cognitive behavioral therapy. Family therapy or group meetings with professional counselors can assist family members. In addition, there is the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network and Gamblers Anonymous that help love ones with their gambling problems (www.casino.org). The medication that is used to treat compulsive gambling is antidepressants and mood stabilizers (www.mayoclinic).

However, this claim is far from the truth. The addiction of gambling has lead researchers and psychologists to prove that money, is not the only reason people get hooked. According to Sevencounties.org, researchers have created four key components that have addressed why gambling has become an addiction throughout the human brain. The first component are the changes to the brain's cerebral cortex which are associated with impaired decision-making, impulsivity, and compulsivity. These changes make it more likely that someone may act on risky or unhealthy impulses, while also fighting the urge. Secondly, the brain’s reward system is being blocked by the addictive feeling of winning, therefore halting the ability to stop playing. This feeling also releases copious amounts of dopamine in which the brain will naturally request more of, until it is satisfied. Third, the brain’s reward system is also associated with memory and emotion. For example, card counters, receive the feeling of reward due to the ability to count cards in a manner that will make winning the hand easier and the probability higher, compared to an individual who is merely playing on luck. This in effect tells the individual’s brain that it is doing well in the memory stage, therefore releasing dopamine and continuing the second and third concept all over again. Lastly, addiction has a significant

Based on information from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) states that there are two and a half million individuals who fall into a state defined as a pathological gambler, another three million are considered problem gamblers, and roughly fifteen million more could be considered “at-risk” (NORC, 1999). A pathological gambler is one who has a severe uncontrollable urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. This project proposes to address the need to keep a casino patron from developing a pathological or compulsive gambling problem. The project will entail investigating the driving factors for a person gambling themselves into problems and

In 2011, Nady el-Guebaly, Tanya Mudry, Joseph Zohar, Hermano Tavares, and Marc Potenza aimed to use DSM-V to describe an emerging focus on addiction and compulsion factors in the research of pathological gambling (PG). They examined the possible overlying of addiction and compulsivity relative to PG, substance use disorders (SUDs), and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), and treatment suggestions. To collect data, they conducted a meticulous literature review of existing evidence for the recommended reclassification of pathological gambling as an addiction. From their results, it was concluded that PG is more like SUDs than OCD. Also, although addictions and OCD share certain similarities, they are neurobiologically different, have lower comorbidity frequencies, and responds differently to treatments. Regarding recognized behavioral addictions, pathological gambling seems to be the only disorder with sufficient evidence for it to be progressed into classifying as an

There are many different addictions. You can be addicted to almost anything, whether with substance or in activity. But there is a thought that one addiction is not as bad as another. Such as gambling. Could gambling be as bad as an addiction to alcohol? These addictions may not be related substance wise, but the effects of both addictions go hand in hand as will be shown. Some results include but are not limited to, financial ruin, legal issues, family issues, and medical issues. It will then be evident that gambling, even though it is not involving consumption, is as harmful as alcoholism.

“Pathological gambling is excessive risk taking exaggerated to an especially destructive extreme.” This is the way Dr. Ted and Brad Klontz open their chapter on the destructive behavior that is gambling (Klontz, B., & Klontz, T, 2009). As the authors describe gambling is a habit that becomes like a drug as people, mostly men, continue to gamble to make themselves feel better about themselves or to escape their present reality. The biggest danger of this disorder is that it is one that people try to hide from others the most, and are very hesitant to admit that their gambling is an addiction.

Another possible treatment for compulsive gambling would be cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is generally short term. The treatment takes a practical approach on problem-solving. Sylvain, Ladouceur, and Boisvert, (1997) studied the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy on compulsive gambling. The treatment consisted of four components which were: (a) cognitive correction of inaccurate perceptions about gambling, (b) problem solving training, (c) social skills training, and (d) relapse prevention. The sample consisted of 29 men who were considered to have a pathological gambling problem. The results showed changes in the treatment group when maintaining therapeutic gains. The findings of the study suggested highly significant changes in the treatment group on the entire outcome measures tested for, follow ups also showed maintenance of therapeutic gains (Sylvain et al., 1997). One positive of cognitive-behavioral therapy is that is considered just as helpful as medication. One drawback of this approach was the fact it was a short term treatment a long term treatment may have had more of significant impact on the abstinence of

     Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our

Compulsive gambling is a form of addiction similar to that of drug and alcohol. According to Lesher (1997), “addiction is actually chronic, relapsing illness characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use” (pg. 45). The term addiction has been extended, and is now referred as psychological and physiological dependence on a substance or behaviour (Sussman, & Sussman, 2011). Addiction causes changes to the brain’s structures and its functions. Drugs, alcohol, and compulsive behaviors such as gambling all activate the brain’s reward system, releasing a neurotransmitter called dopamine (Module 4, 2015). Dopamine is the chemical that produces the feeling of pleasure, relief of distress, and a sense that the activity that released the dopamine is valuable. It is the dopamine that people get addicted to, not the substance or behaviour that triggers the dopamine release. Over time, the brain adapts to the repeated destruction of dopamine associated with gambling and soon excessive amount of dopamine is needed to be

Gambling is the act of risking an object of personal value, usually money, for the chance of winning a greater reward. A gambling disorder, previously known as pathological gambling, is when gambling begins to take over all aspects of life affecting relationships, and work. The category that a gambling disorder should be classified under in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition (DSM-5) has been debated. Gambling disorder previously was classified as an Impulse Control Disorder, but in the new edition, DSM-5, it is classified as a Substance-Related and Addictive Disorder (Clark, 2014). The reason for debate on the topic was because of the characteristics of the disorder,

Patient 015 came to the compound one year ago exactly. The patient came pleading for help, saying that money has taken over. What was meant by this was that the individual suffered from a gambling addiction. The proper name, Compulsive Gambling or Gambling Disorder, should be taken serious. The victim of this mental illness wakes and goes to bed with one simple need; gambling. A person with this disorder will go countless days without eating or being productive. When the person gambles, a high will be created as if they were taking a prescription drug. The feeling of winning is the equivalent of that calming sensation that any drug user gets. “Desperate gambling on the Stock Exchange, wild

The fourth member who shared the experience of gambling addiction was a 28 years old male who had master’s degree and worked in the financial department in a bank. He just stopped for the last two years and joined the Gamblers Anonymous. He did not realize that he had a problem. He started his gambling habit by playing poker with friends and playing online in 2000. He declared that he owed six figures plus interest to the credit card companies. He did not have a concept about keeping money. Furthermore, he claimed that what he enjoyed during gambling was the impulse. El-Guebaly, Mudry, Tavares, & Potenza (2011) also supported, "pathological gambling have been described as ego-syntonic, meaning they are often preceded by feelings of pleasure,