Gambling Addiction Intervention

Roughly two million individuals in this country meet the criteria for ‘pathological gambler’. Over four million more have less significant, but serious, problems with gambling.

Warning signs may include:

• missing work or family functions in order to spend time gambling
• increasing the time and money spent gambling
• preoccupation with funding the gambling (borrowing money, selling possessions, stealing)
• gambling to get money to pay the family expenses, gambling more after winning, gambling more after losing
• gambling as an escape or a coping mechanism
• being secretive or dishonest about the extent of the gambling
• being remorseful, self destructive, or having trouble sleeping
• lack of concern about reputation, family needs, and personal welfare

Gambling is a Process Addiction or Behavioral Addiction. It is not about winning or losing, it is about the process. When someone with the addiction is in the process of gambling, measurable levels of dopamine increase in the brain. This is a chemical response not unlike Substance Addiction. The ‘process’ causes the brain chemical release. Drug-use by a drug addict results in the dopamine response in the reward centers of the brain. The ‘process’ of gambling elicits the same brain chemical function in the reward centers of the gambling addict’s brain. Gambling creates an intense pleasure for the addict; which explains why they continue to gamble regardless of negative consequences.