Compulsive Gambling Increases as Gambling Opportunities Proliferate

San Francisco (PRWEB) January 2, 2010 -- As the gaming industry casts wider and wider nets with the proliferation of gambling opportunities-- the net is catching more people with propensities towards gambling addiction.

“Compulsive gambling is the urge to gamble despite having harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. It’s not how much time or money a gambler gambles, but the harm to the gambler or his or her partner or family that determines whether it is compulsive gambling. Compulsive Gambling, like drug and alcohol addiction, is a debilitating condition that wrecks havoc in people’s lives, and their partners, spouses, and families,” says San Francisco psychotherapist Michael Halyard.

Halyard is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and runs the websites www.sftherapy.com and www.sanfrancisco-psychotherapy.com/ .

Halyard says that anecdotally, therapists are getting more calls from compulsive gamblers. “My colleagues tell me that they have gotten an increase in those seeking treatment for gambling addiction, including underage teens that get hooked on Internet gambling.”

“It used to be that if you wanted to gamble, you had to go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Now days, people can gamble in the comfort of their own homes on the computer, or go to nearby card room or Indian Casino. Casinos offer slot machines, sports betting, card games, but there’s also the horse racing, greyhound racing, card rooms, bingo parlors, and state lotteries. Gambling is ubiquitous and one of the few booming industries. In 2006, Americans lost nearly 91 billion dollars gambling,” adds Halyard.

Casinos may bring economic development to some communities and help some Native Americans tribes prosper. Online casinos make gambling available anywhere. But the costs of the proliferation of gambling opportunities are significant to gambling addicts.

“There is always going to be a percentage of gamblers who will become compulsive gamblers. When the total number of people gambling is low, that means fewer compulsive gamblers. However, today with so many gambling opportunities--there are more people gambling that wouldn’t have otherwise--and some of those people will no doubt become addicted. Likewise, more gambling opportunities can mean that gamblers gamble more frequently --increasing the likelihood that they will cross that invisible line into addiction. Current estimates for compulsive gamblers are as high as seven percent of the population, and that number could go up even higher,” explains Halyard.

The difference between compulsive gambling (problem gambling) and pathological gambling are a matter of degree. Compulsive gambling is the urge to gamble--and inability to limit the amount of time or money spent on gambling--despite having harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop.

"Pathological gambling is more severe, and defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM-IV classifies pathological gambling as an impulse control disorder that is a chronic and progressive mental illness. To be diagnosed with pathological gambling, a person have at least five of following symptoms: preoccupation with gambling, tolerance, loss of control, withdrawal symptoms when stopping gambling, escaping to relieve uncomfortable feelings, chasing one’s losses, lying, committing illegal acts, and asking for bailouts," reveals Halyard.

Halyard says despite being classified as an impulse control disorder, many psychotherapists who work with compulsive gamblers see it more as an addiction because the condition shares so many characteristics with drug and alcohol dependence, including tolerance and withdrawal.

"Like alcoholism or drug addiction, gambling addiction can create lots of wreckage--not only for the gambler, but their partner, spouse, or family due to the financial mess in the gamblers’ wake--and the effects can be devastating. For example, it’s not uncommon for the spouse of a compulsive gambler to find out the gambler has re-mortgaged their house and gambled all the money, says Halyard.

"Compulsive gamblers chase their losses--meaning they mistakenly believe they can win back the money they’ve lost. This can lead to disastrous consequences, including refinancing their home to have money to gamble, liquidating their assets, spending their life savings, only to end up penniless. It’s not uncommon for people to lose half a million dollars gambling," adds Halyard.

Compulsive gambling is detrimental to interpersonal relationships, with the friends and family sharing much of the pain that comes with the addiction. When a person is addicted, the primary relationship becomes the addiction. When gamblers are on a binge, they can stay up for a couple days gambling because they are on a high from gambling, leaving their family behind. Growing up in a family where a parent is a compulsive gambler can mean economic insecurity, neglect, and lots of conflict.

"Often as debts build up, compulsive gamblers become desperate and turn to other sources of money including theft, selling drugs. Without treatment, compulsive gamblers even get to the point of contemplating suicide," reveals Halyard.

Although the exact causes for gambling addiction are not known, it is clear that brain chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and norepinphrine play a role. Low serotonin levels may also contribute to compulsive behavior, including compulsive gambling.

Medications used to treat Parkinson’s disease called dopamine agonists have been linked to the development of compulsive gambling. This happens because these medications mimic dopamine levels in the brain, creating a rush for individuals who are experiencing a reward or excitement. This suggests that differing dopamine levels in different non-Parkinson’s individuals may explain why some people are more susceptible to gambling addiction.

"Some compulsive gamblers have lower levels of norepinphrine than normal gamblers. Pathological gamblers may gamble to compensate for their low levels of norepinphrine-- which is produced when people are having a thrill, aroused, excited, or under stress. In one study, MRI’s even revealed that gaining money in a casino-like environment produced similar brain activation to that of cocaine addicts getting a fix," reveals Halyard.

"All this makes it clear that addiction is not a moral issue, it’s a brain issue. Science is now showing us that for addicts, the part of the brain that is in charge of decision making is broken, which is why addicts of all kinds continue the addictive behavior in spite of ever increasing negative consequences," argues Halyard.

Halyard says compulsive gambling is one of the harder addictions to beat, possibly due to the lack of awareness that it can be an addiction, and the individual and communal denial about how serious of a problem it is.

"The impediment to treatment is often denial, because people don’t want to think they have a problem and shame, because people don’t want others to know. In their head, the compulsive gambler really thinks they control their gambling. Unfortunately most compulsive gamblers don’t get treatment, or only get treatment when they’ve lost everything," says Halyard.

Treatment may include psychotherapy, medication, Gamblers Anonymous (GA), or a combination of these. Gamblers Anonymous is a mutual support approach, 12-step program based on Alcoholics Anonymous and is extremely effective for those willing to do the work.

"Therapy can help the compulsive gambler identify the triggers- those feelings and situations that make the person want to gamble. Triggers can vary, for some compulsive gamblers, it’s having cash, for others it’s uncomfortable feelings, stress, boredom or lack of structure. Most compulsive gamblers dealt with uncomfortable emotions by gambling, so therapy works on building new coping skills to cope with feelings, adversity, and stress. Therapy can also help the compulsive gambler learn to cope with urges, and help reduce urges by identifying gambling thought processes and cognitive distortions that increase an individual’s vulnerability to gambling. Urges come and go, but get shorter and less intense with longer periods of sobriety. Therapy can also help with skill-building techniques focused on relapse prevention, problem solving, assertiveness and gambling refusal, and reinforcement of non-gambling activities and interests," explains Halyard.

“GA offers tons of support for compulsive gamblers and gives them tools to cope with life. Like alcoholism, gambling creates lots of wreckages in the form of damaged relationships due to financial strain and neglect. The 12-steps offer a good way to take an inventory of your life and set things right with people who have been harmed,” argues Halyard.

The opiate antagonists Nalmefene and Naltrexone, medications used to treat substance additions, have been shown to help treat pathological gambling. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) like Paxil have also been shown to be effective.

Once in treatment or GA, the gambler must take steps to avoid having a relapse. Cash is like crack for the compulsive gambler, and often compulsive gamblers need their spouse or partner to handle the finances for at least a while. Also, most casinos offer a voluntary exclusion program, so you can ban yourself from the casino if you are a compulsive gambler.

“If you think you have a problem, try taking GA’s online test and see how you do. If you do have a problem, get help. Try going to GA, see a psychotherapist, and think about getting on medication to help with cravings. In the past there were few opportunities for treatment, but today we are lucky to live in a time with lots of opportunities for treatment that work. People do recover from compulsive gambling, and have a much richer life. The only way a compulsive gambler wins is not to bet at all,” adds Halyard.

About Michael Halyard. Michael Halyard, MS, MFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and provides counseling and psychotherapy in his San Francisco private practice. He specializes in addictions, depression, anxiety, couples counseling and LGBT issues. He also runs the web sites www.sftherapy.com and www.sanfrancisco-psychotherapy.com/.

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