What is Gambling-Addiction

Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as f...

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IMPORTANT UNIVERSITY DEPRESSION STUDY GROUP SURVEY!

By Dr. Orrange October 24, 2008 8:25pm 19 Comments

Sadly, millions of people affected by depression are not being treated for it.  One reason for this unfortunate situation is that many individuals do not recognize their symptoms as being the result of depression.  Others know that they are depressed but choose not to tell their doctors.

The University Depression Study Group (UDSG), of …

Support people need…Support

By Cyndi October 17, 2008 3:42pm 18 Comments

 

A member asked me to address the issue of how her husband can cope with her mental illness.  There is no question that the mates of those who are mentally ill can suffer sometimes as much as the person who has the diagnosis.  Different people have different reactions,  which fall anywhere on the continuum, from trying to fix …

Attachment to a Therapist-When Treatment Ends

By Cyndi October 10, 2008 5:23pm 31 Comments

Interestingly enough another site member asked me to address the issue of "becoming attached to your therapist". This is interesting to me because of my recent post entitled Attachment to the Hospital. While this is a very different type of connection there are some similarities. The relationship between a patient and a therapist is not a …

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Gambling Addiction & Recovery Information

Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather than by the gambler's behavior. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets certain criteria.

Extreme cases of problem gambling may cross over into the realm of mental disorders. Pathological gambling was recognized as a psychiatric disorder in the DSM-III, but the criteria were significantly reworked based on large-scale studies and statistical methods for the DSM-IV. As defined by American Psychiatric Association, pathological gambling is an impulse control disorder that is a chronic and progressive mental illness.

According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, incidence of problem gambling is 2-3% and pathological gambling is 1% in the United States, though this may vary by country. By contrast, 86% of Americans have gambled in their lives and 60% gamble in a given year.

Available research seems to indicate that problem gambling is an internal tendency, and that problem gamblers will tend to risk money on whatever game is available—as opposed to the availability of a particular game inducing problem gambling in otherwise "normal" individuals. However research also indicates that problem gamblers tend to risk money on fast-paced games. Thus a problem gambler is much more likely to lose a lot of money on poker or slot machines, where rounds end quickly and there is a constant temptation to play again or increase bets, as opposed to a state lottery where the gambler must wait until the next drawing to see results.

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