Interesting. All I know is once that urge comes...it's almost impossible for me to fight it. Never thought it could be chemical.

yes, need more research to figure out how to lower my levels.
thanks new, I will use every tool and insight I can get to beat this.
I don't ever want to go where I was.
Rufff, Rufff !!!

Yes Bernie23, I was surprised to hear it as well. It helped me to understand a little bit better why I was having such a hard time letting go when it has done so much damage to me and my family. Of course this is a complicated disease, so it is just one element that needs to be fought. One more piece to the puzzle.

I've also been reading a bit about dopamine and compulsive behaviors. There is a definite connection between our dopamine levels and our addiction.

Another theory is that in people with addictions have chronically low levels of dopamine and that when our levels rise when we gamble. Therefore, our brains make a positive connection between the behavior and the release of dopamine, and the addiction is born.

The battle we are in must be fought on so many levels - emotional, physical and spiritual. To reduce it to a matter of simple "willpower" is a gross oversimplification.

Hi New55, Yes, I have read about this in quite a few books and articles. There was a great chapter in a book I read called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. It talks about the addictive brain of a cg, and how our perceptions are even skewed.
"In 2010, a cognitive neuroscientist named Reza Habib asked 22 people to lie inside an MRI and watch a slot machine, half were "pathological gamblers" -people who had lied to their families about their gambling, missed work to gamble, or had bounced checks at a casino -while the other half were people who gambled socially but didn't exhibit any problematic behaviors. Everyone was placed on their backs inside a narrow tube and told to watch wheels of lucky 7s apples, and gold bars spin across a video screen. The slot machine was programmed to deliver three outcomes: a win, a loss and a "near miss" in which the slots ALMOST matched up but, at the last instant failed to align. None of the participants won or lost any money. All they had to do was watch the screen as the MRI recorded their neurological activity.
We were particularly interested in looking at the brain systems involved in habits and addictions. What we found was that, neurologically speaking, pathological gamblers got more excited about winning. When the symbols lined up, even though they didn't actually win any money, the areas in their brains related to emotion and reward were much more active than in non-pathological gamblers.
But what was really interesting were the near misses. To pathological gamblers, NEAR MISSES LOOKED LIKE WINS. Their brains reacted almost the same way. But to a non-pathological gambler, a near miss was like a loss. People without a gambling problem were better at recognizing that a near miss means you still lose.
Two groups saw the exact same event, but from a neurological standpoint, they viewed it differently. People with gambling problems get a MENTAL HIGH from the near misses -which, is probably why they gamble for so much longer than everyone else: because the near miss triggers those habits that prompt them to put down another bet. - pg 64-
This was a great book and I highly recommend it. Very interesting and pertinent. It also gives strategies for how to change habits.
Love to all, ~atticus

Thank you Atticus. This sounds like a very interesting book. I will have to see if I can get it at the library by any chance.

Certainly there has to be some, many reasons possibly, why some people become compulsive gamblers, and others can go gamble once in a while and not get caught up in it. It is very interesting that the dopamine response is different in gamblers and non-gamblers. Wonder if this is genetic, or if it is not, if it is something than can develop over time? Or both?

Definitely, I have acquired some very bad habits that need to be changed. I think it is important that we not overwhelm ourselves with trying to correct everything at once, or we will fail. I do hope I can get a copyof this book.

Thank you for sharing this!!