What is Pathological Gambling?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, Pathological Gambling is a disorder of impulse control.
In another words, people who have problems with Pathological Gambling lose control when they gamble.
They cannot stop playing even though they want to stop or need to stop.
The main symptom of Pathological Gambling is “persistent and maladaptive gambling behavior that disrupts personal, family, or vocational pursuits”.
The second part says that Pathological Gambling is persistent and maladaptive gambling behavior.
The persistent part means that you keep gambling. You go back to the casino even though you tell yourself that you need to stop.
The maladaptive part means that the way you gamble hurts you and other people. One example of this is spending your whole pay check at the casino and then not having money to pay bills or buy food.
Finally, Pathological Gambling disrupts personal, family, or vocational pursuits. Simply put, gambling has caused you problems with your job, your family, and your life.
People who have problems with Pathological Gambling:
• Lose control when they gamble
• Keep on gambling even though they want to stop
• Gamble in a way that hurts them
• Have family, legal, and job-related problems because of their gambling
Pathological Gambling is very different from Social Gambling.
Social gamblers:
• Set aside a certain amount of money for gambling (entertainment money) and when it is gone, they stop.
• Only gamble once in a while and for a set period of time
• Do not have any problems because of their gambling
Pathological Gambling is a lot like other addictions. However, you might notice how they are different in some ways:
• You don’t have to smoke or drink anything when you gamble;
• Gambling does not automatically alter a person’s mind like alcohol or drugs can
• A person cannot die from an overdose of gambling;
• Unlike drugs, Gambling is legal in many places;
• A person might win a lot of money gambling