What causes or precipitates gambling addiction?

While it may appear that addictions are pleasure-seeking behaviors, the roots of any addiction can usually be traced to a wish to suppress or avoid some kind of emotional pain. Getting lost in hours at a casino table, at the horse track, or in the fantasy of how one will spend those millions if winning the lottery may provide relief from an unhappy life. Addiction is a way to escape from reality, from something that is either too full of sadness (such as living in a violent family) or too devoid of joy (an emotionally hollow life). Emotional trauma in early life may be at the source of many addictions.

Gambling provides a chemical "rush," a feeling of aliveness and excitement. If a person has "numbed out" emotions that have been too painful to process, other feelings have become dulled as well. Because the brain craves novelty and the body wants to feel "alive," it is not surprising that risky behavior such as gambling creates that emotional charge, and that the rate of adrenaline pumping through the body results in an intense "high" that becomes more and more desired, addictive as many kinds of drugs.

How can you break the addiction to compulsive gambling?

As in any treatment program, the primary step to take in the path to recovery is to accept and not refute "denial," a defense mechanism that addicts frequently employ and that effectively stops them from accepting treatment. Once this obstacle is conquered, treatment can be performed more effectively than it would otherwise.

If you are grappling with this addiction, seek professional treatment. Once you admit and address the problem, other pieces of your life will fall back into place. Treatment for compulsive gambling is similar to therapies for other forms of addiction. Your doctor or mental health professional may use these approaches:

  • Psychotherapy in the form of cognitive-behavioral therapy that focuses on identifying unhealthy, irrational and negative beliefs and having you replace them with healthy, positive ones.
  • Group therapy that enables an addict to tap into the advice, feedback and support from other people on how to deal with a gambling addiction. Gamblers Anonymous provides peer support and a 12-step program patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous. For people who are uncertain whether they have a gambling problem, Gamblers Anonymous publishes a list of 20 questions as a screening tool and provides a list of local chapters.
  • Residential treatment programs organized and staffed to provide both general and specialized non-hospital-based interdisciplinary services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Residential treatment programs provide environments in which assistance is provided by personnel trained in the delivery of services for those with behavioral health disorders or related problems.
  • Inpatient treatment programs providing coordinated and integrated services in hospital settings. Inpatient treatment is provided 24 hours, 7 days a week, and there are daily therapeutic activities in which patients participate. The goal of inpatient treatment is to provide a protective environment that includes medical stabilization, support, treatment for psychiatric or addictive disorders, and supervision.
  • Counseling by a Certified Gambling Counselor who has completed a specific course of study in problem gambling treatment and has been certified by either:
    • A national credentialing organization (National Gambling Counselor Certification Board-NCGC; American Gambling Counselor Certification Board-CCGC; or American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders-CAS); OR
    • A state certification organization that requires a minimum of 30 hours of problem gambling specific training and a period of direct (supervisor personal contact) supervision related to treating addicted gambler.

Resources for Compulsive Gamblers and Their Loved Ones:

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Reviewed: 03/2006