Gambling Addiction is the act of sacrificing or risking anything in the hope of gaining more. Gambling addiction causes impairment in functionality. A person who is addicted to gambling not only harms himself/herself but also harms his/her family and environment. Gambling addiction, which causes great financial losses, can break up the family institution. In pathological cases, substance abuse treatment is often used in the treatment of gambling addiction. These individuals should be referred to substance abuse treatment departments. A high rate of success can be achieved with the treatment method applied according to the person.
What is Gambling Addiction?
Gambling addiction is a persistent gambling behavior that causes functional impairment. Gambling addiction harms both the person, their family and their environment. It causes serious financial damage and causes families to break up. Unfortunately, gambling addiction has increased with the developing technology. Gambling addiction is not a moral weakness or lack of willpower.
Gambling addiction occurs at a rate of 3%. It can be seen in every income group. It is more common in men between the ages of 40-50. It is also becoming increasingly common among young people.
How does gambling addiction develop?
Gambling addiction usually starts with enthusiasm. However, over time, this enthusiasm is replaced by the ambition to win more and more and makes the person addicted to gambling.
Continuous and recurrent inappropriate gambling behavior with the presence of 5 or more of the following items indicates a predisposition to the diagnosis of gambling addiction. However, in order to make the diagnosis, the person must be interviewed by the relevant specialists.
- Overthinking about gambling (reliving past gambling experiences, planning or trying to prevent the next game)
- Feeling the need to gamble with increasing amounts of money to satisfy a craving for excitement.
- Unsuccessful attempts to reduce, control or stop gambling
- Feeling restless during attempts to reduce or stop gambling
- Gambling to escape from problems or to get rid of an unhappy and depressed mood, helplessness, guilt, anxiety or depression
- Gambling with money and losing it, then coming back another day to replace what you lost (chasing your losses)
- Lying to family members, a therapist or others about the amount of gambling they do
- People with gambling addiction commit illegal acts such as forgery, fraud, theft to obtain money to gamble
- People with gambling addiction risk jeopardizing or losing an important relationship, job, educational or professional opportunities because of gambling
- Relying on others to get out of financial problems caused by gambling
The addictiveness of a substance or behavior is related to how quickly and at a high rate the substance releases dopamine in the person. In this sense, the prevalence of betting via the internet has been increasing in recent years. Receiving the result of the bets made within 1-2 minutes leads to faster and more pleasure. For this reason, especially university students and highly educated people tend to engage in this behavior by gaining a false self-confidence in this field. Especially tools such as smartphones that provide access to these sites anywhere and anytime lead to the reinforcement of this behavior and lead to addiction.
What are the Risks of Gambling Addiction?
Gambling addiction negatively affects the person and his/her environment. Gambling addiction has many risks. Some of these risks are as follows;
- Gamblers hope to get back what they have lost in one go. When this does not happen, they try to cover their behavior and losses with lies.
- Committing illegal acts such as fraud, forgery, theft, embezzlement, theft, embezzlement, etc. in order to get the money needed to gamble.
- The gambler jeopardizes or loses an important relationship because of gambling, such as a job or an educational or professional opportunity.
- Relationships break down as the gambler becomes angry and secretive. They realize that they cannot make up for their losses.
- Depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts occur. At this stage, relationship problems or alcohol and substance abuse are common in pathological gamblers.
- Overthinking about gambling (reliving past gambling experiences, thinking about ways to prevent or design the next game, or thinking of ways to get money to gamble)
- He or she needs to gamble increasing amounts of money to get the excitement he or she wants.
- There have been many unsuccessful attempts to control, reduce or stop gambling.
- He is restless when trying to reduce or stop gambling.
- He gambles to escape from his problems or to get rid of a dysphoric emotional state (feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression).
- After gambling with money and losing it, he/she often comes back another day to replace what he/she has lost (chasing what he/she has lost)
- Lies to family members, therapists or others to hide how much they gamble.
- Engages in illegal activities, such as forgery, fraud, theft, embezzlement or embezzlement, to get the money needed to gamble.
- Because of gambling, he or she jeopardizes or loses an important relationship, a job or an opportunity to succeed in his or her education or career.
- Relies on others to provide money to get out of a dire financial situation caused by gambling.
Gamblers hope to get back what they have lost in one go. When this does not happen, they try to cover up their behavior and losses with lies. Relationships break down when the gambler becomes angry and secretive. They resort to illegal means, forge checks, deplete their savings and get into debt. The result is depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts. The patient realizes that they cannot make up for their losses. However, they continue gambling for excitement and stimulation. Patients often seek treatment in the last stage because of relationship problems or legal issues.
How is gambling addiction treated?
Gambling addiction is a treatable disorder. First of all, this treatment requires a certain process. The person must first accept that they are addicted . Then the person should get support from his/her family and a specialist physician. The situation of the person who has difficulty in controlling his/her attitudes and behaviors can be controlled with the help of the family. The family tries to keep the addict's financial affairs under control. It provides the necessary support for the person to get rid of gambling addiction. In the treatment of pathological gambling addiction, substance addiction treatment model is generally applied. Therefore, patients with gambling addiction should be referred to substance addiction treatment departments. It may become possible to get rid of this addiction with a program tailored to the person.
