Pathological Gambling Case Study

Will Set a budget for how much you will spend in one session and in one week.Limit the time you will spend gambling. Keep a daily diary to record your gambling. Use a notebook to record the amount of time gambling, number of occasions, wins and losses.Debt or other financial problems. Relationship problems – arguments, disagreements or loss of connection with friends and family,Loss of a job or problems at work due to lack of motivation, absences, inability to concentrate on work, Mental and emotional health concerns – increased stress, depression, panic attacks. Negative impacts on family, especially children – may start getting in the way of being a good parent. Loss of control – gambling can be addictive and starts to take over, it can be hard to stop even when you know it is causing you and your family harm. It can be hard to know if your gambling is getting out of control. A common reaction is to minimise, hide or deny gambling problems and the harm it could be causing. Some people will lie to themselves and others about how much money or time is being spent on gambling. If you suspect you may be developing a gambling addiction, or if you recognise risk in someone you love, get help immediately. Spend more money and time than you intend to gambling, Feel guilty and ashamed about your gambling, Try to win back your losses, Miss important things in life such as family time,

Gambling can be done at a casino, racetrack, or online. Compulsive gambling addiction can lead to criminal behaviors. There are several phases in gambling. The winning phase lead gamblers to win several winnings, which leads them to believe that they will keep winning. The loosing phase often begins with bragging about their past wins and start gambling alone and begin to borrow money. The loosing phase leads to debts. The desperation phase can lead to suicidal thoughts, arrests, divorce and alcohol and drug abuse.

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).

There are many different forms of gambling. Whether one is betting on a lottery ticket, a horse race, a sports game, or slot machines, to name a few, they are spending money with unfavourable odds of winning that money back. Many people cannot control when they walk away from gambling, as they will continue to bet in an attempt to win back the lost money. The issue is - for the most part - that the losses continue to increase. In Victoria, in the fiscal year of 2000-01, gamblers lost a total of $14.38 billion, including $2.36 billion on the leading cause of losses, poker machines (11). This can result in problem gambling. Based on different surveys in Canada, it is estimated that approximately 1 in 20 Canadians either have a gambling problem, or are at serious risk of obtaining one. 1 in 20 Canadians adds up to 760,800 problem gamblers (12). In the US, an estimated 3 million people are problem gamblers, and another 15 million are at risk of developing gambling problems (13). Problem gambling would not be as severe of an issue if it only harmed the gambler themselves, as it is their choice to gamble and displays a only a lack of self control. The issue is that people are indirectly affected by problem gambling. It can result in problems with personal relationships, neglect of ones family, bankruptcy, and stress related disorders such as depression, or insomnia (14). Problem gambling also has a positive correlation with crime. This means that the more problem gamblers there are, the more crimes are being committed. Statistics from a published survey show that only 3.3% of responsible, low frequency gamblers have been convicted of committing a crime, while a staggering 28.3% of problem gamblers have been convicted at least once (15). These numbers show that problem gamblers do not only harm themselves, but the consequences have a continuous ripple effect,

It is important to know if there is a link between gambling disorders and substance use because it can assist in finding treatment that works more effectively for comorbidity of these disorders. It is also important to note that it could also help figure out the neurological explanation to addiction because drugs can change the shape and processes of a brain, and gambling is a form of addiction that does not. Pathological gambling and substance abuse/ dependence have similar classifications. This paper will provide evidence to answer the question “what is relationship between gambling disorders and substance use in adults?”

According to national surveys, 73% of British adults wagered on gambling activities (including National Lottery) in 2010 [2]. In some instances, this behaviour can become problematic and is characterised by persistent gambling that precedes gambling-related harms [6]. Whilst personal accounts of disordered gambling behaviour and harms related to specific gambling products have garnered a large amount of media exposure and research interest in the UK, the provision and understanding of treatment-seeking behaviour has received less attention. Conservative estimates indicate that approximately 1% of the UK population report gambling behaviour that warrants a diagnosis of either pathological gambling (ICD-10, [7]) or gambling disorder (DSM-5, [5])

A pathological addiction is a strong habit or compulsion that continues regardless of the obvious harmful consequences, like pathological gambling or PG. PG has gained increased global attention from clinicians and researchers over the past few decades, due to expanding gambling opportunities. About 0.2% to 5.3% of adults worldwide are affected by gambling disorders (Jazaeri & Habil, 2012). There are various distinct treatments that have been favorably evaluated, such as cognitive behavioral and brief treatment models and pharmacological interventions. Gambling disorders are comorbid, normally seen with other mental health and substance use disorders. As of today, many authors have noted that is

Relating to the issue of subgroups, pathological gambling was originally classified as an impulse control disorder by the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), though, based on its criteria similar to substance dependence, some researchers preferred to consider it a behavioural addiction (Blanco et al., 2001; Potenza et al., 2002). Goudriaan et al. (2006) provide a similar argument, stating that pathological gambling and alcohol dependence share common EF deficits, and it has since been amended to be a behavioural addiction the in the DSM-V (APA, 2013). The divisive topic of screening and diagnosis could have serious consequences on the quality of care, or form of therapy, a pathological gambler may receive or decide to enter. Whether they legitimately

In 2013, the release of the updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) added gambling disorder to the category titled Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders. (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 2013) In the previous edition of the DSM, gambling, along with other behavioral addictions were in the Impulse Control Disorders category of the DSM-III and DSM-IV (Clark, 2014). Behavioral Addictions are said to be around for hundreds of years. For example, gambling was part of daily life in ancient Greece. (Hekster, 2002). In the first edition of American Psychiatric Association in 1812, there was detailed mention of excessive sexual desire (Rush, 1812). Yet, behavioral

RCP also suggest that a person is more predisposed to becoming addicted to gambling if someone else in the family – particularly a parent is or has been a problem gambler. This can be partly due to learnt behaviour – by seeing a parent gamble or having been taught to gamble by them, the child will feel that this activity is acceptable and a family activity. Often children are taken to dog or horse racing and encouraged to have a bet. This early initiation into gambling will mean that the symptoms of euphoria and excitement of the activity will be embedded at an early age. Another group of people who are more likely to become addicted to gambling are those who are already dependent or alcohol or illegal drugs and thus are already presenting as having an addictive personalities. It is interesting to note the location of many bookmakers in relation to pubs and social clubs in city centres and housing estates.

The first article I found is about gambling and how problem gambling relates to other health issues. The first thing that the article lay out the two ways of classifying problem gambling. “non-mutually exclusive conceptuali¬zations of pathological gambling classify the disorder as an impulse control disorder lying along an obsessive-compulsive spectrum or like an addiction to a drug” (Potenza, 2002). The article goes in-depth on several different types of disorders and the prevalence of gambling amongst people with these disorders. The first disorders that they look at in the article are substance abuse disorders and they found that was up to ten times as prevalent in people with substance use disorders(Potenza,2002). The article continues

     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

There is a controversy around the issue of whether addiction is a choice or a disease. Addiction is not an individual’s fault, but just their genetics’. Being an addict is the result of experiences and genetics and therefore an individual should not be blamed for their desire to feel pleasure by using a substance or behaviour. For this reason, gambling disorder is an addiction in the same sense as alcoholism and heroin dependence. Gambling disorder, alcoholism and heroin dependence are all forms of addiction that shares similar components and pattern; the biologic consequences, cause of genetics, and ability to recover. The changes in brain structure due to the use of substance or activity translates into psychological need for the excitement,

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,

In short, gambling is an enticing entertainment among many Australian friends and families. The fact that it's so enticing socially and psychologically, means that multiple factors are required in explaining why someone develops a gambling problem.