Compulsive gambling

Compulsive gambling is a progressive, addictive disorder of impulse-control.

Compulsive gamblers have an increasing preoccupation with gambling in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences. To roll the dice, pick a number or play a hand becomes more important than family, home, or work.

Social gamblers

Not everyone who gambles is addicted. Social gamblers can easily quit because their self-esteem is not tied to winning or losing. Other aspects of their lives are more important and rewarding than gambling, and they rarely experience a "big win."

A gambling problem

Answering "yes" to any of these questions may point to a gambling problem:

• Is there a frequent preoccupation with gambling or with getting the money to gamble?
• Are larger amounts of money being used to gamble and over longer periods of time than intended?
• Is restlessness or irritability present if unable to gamble?
• Have there been repeated efforts made to reduce or stop gambling?
• Are important social, occupational or recreational activities being sacrificed in order to gamble?
• Is there a continuation of gambling despite an inability to pay increasing debts or despite other significant social, occupational or legal problems that the person knows are made worse by gambling?

Compulsive traits

Much like people with cocaine dependence, compulsive gamblers thrive on challenge and seek situations that are highly stimulating. They often show these traits:

• superior intelligence
• competitiveness
• industriousness
• high energy
• good athletic and scholastic ability
• workaholism
• other addictions

Three phases

Compulsive gamblers go through three phases:

• Winning: Winning and losing seem like an adventure. Worries disappear in the excitement.
• Losing: Self-esteem ebbs as the gambler loses more than he or she wins. More time is spent gambling to recover losses and repay loans. The stakes and the takes increase; but the losses come faster.
• Desperation: Gambling becomes a full-time obsession. Life centers on “getting even” and paying off debts, often with borrowed or stolen money.

Family losses

Compulsive gambling can make a family and marriage fall apart. The gambler’s obsession steals time and attention away from spouses and children. Feeling abandoned, family members experience problems of self-worth and suffer bouts of depression.

Help available

Compulsive gambling doesn't have to last a lifetime. Treatment is available.

• Ask your doctor for a referral to a professional counselor or recovery program.
• Look up a 12-step program like Gamblers Anonymous in your local phone directory.
• If your employer has an assistance program, call it and ask for help with compulsive gambling.

Gamblers who recognize their problem can recover from the addiction and live a life free of gambling.

Related Links

Allina Behavioral Health Services

First published: 09/13/99
Last updated: 01/26/2004

Reviewed by: Tim Gibbs, MD, psychiatrist, Abbott Northwestern Hospital; Donna Krzmarzick, RN, behavioral health manager, Adult Mental Health, Cambridge Medical Center; David Olson, MD, Cambridge Medical Center; Susan Tabor, BSN, RN, care center director, Behavioral Health Services, United Hospital