Gambling Addiction

What starts off as a bit of harmless fun, for a small percentage of the population, turns into a compulsion to gamble that just can’t be resisted.

If you have a gambling problem your behaviors are causing you harm in some area of your life. Your career may be suffering, as you spend more time thinking about betting than the job – or you may be having money problems, as your gambling losses begin to affect the financial health of your family.

• If you have a more serious problem, known as pathological gambling disorder, gambling controls your life and you can’t seen to resist your urges to wager, no matter how hard you try.

People who try and fail to control their gambling tend to feel hopeless, and the stress of living with the lies, debt and bad behaviors that accompany a severe gambling problem can worsen how you feel – or in some cases, can even trigger another mental health disorder, like depression, substance abuse or anxiety. Tragically, many with severe gambling problems see suicide as the only way out.

• Most people that need gambling treatment will never get it. But there is hope and if you get the care you need you can learn to control your behaviors and you can get your life back on track.

With treatment and other professional assistance you can:

Resist urges to gamble – repair damaged relationships – get back in control of your finances and make a reasonable plan to pay of debts.

There is always hope and as no matter how bleak things look, there is always a way out!

What Is Gambling Addiction?

Although for some people, gambling becomes a compulsive behavior that closely mimics the compulsive consumption of drugs or alcohol, the term gambling addiction is not a clinically used term. The two terms most commonly used to describe harmful gambling behaviors are:

• Problem Gambling
• Pathological Gambling (also known as compulsive gambling)

Problem Gamblers – Gamble in a way that causes them or their family some harm. Patterns of gambling that cause occasional money shortages in the home could be an example of problem gambling. It is estimated that as many 2% to 3% of Americans meet the criteria for problem gambling. Problem gamblers are still in control of their gambling – they are not yet compulsive gamblers.

Pathological Gamblers – Pathological gambling disorder is considered an impulse control disorder by the American Psychological Association (The APA); a disorder characterized by a reoccurring or continual loss of control over gambling, by gambling that continues even in the face of seriously adverse consequences and by irrational thinking. The APA considers pathological gambling to be a progressive (without intervention it gets worse) disorder that responds well to treatment. There are an estimated 2 million pathological gamblers in America. ¹

People with pathological gambling disorder cannot resist their impulses to gamble – gambling and getting the money to gamble becomes the single most important thing in life. This can obviously lead to great financial, work, legal and family/relationship problems.

Although ‘gambling addict’ is not a medical term, it is sometime used as it illustrates the similarities between the compulsions a pathological gambler feels to wager and the cravings an alcoholic or drug addict feels for their substance of choice. Gamblers also experience tolerance (needing to bet greater amounts to get the same thrill) and withdrawal (feeling anxious or irritable when they cannot gamble).