Pathological Gambling JEREMY HALL
Defining Pathological Gambling A Pathological Gambler shows at least five of these symptoms: Preoccupied with gambling Needs to gamble larger amounts of money to bring desired excitement (tolerance) Repeated unsuccessful attempts to stop Relentless or irritable when attempting to quit Gambling to escape problems Returns after losing money (chasing loses) Tries to hide gambling by lying Commits illegal acts in order to finance gambling Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship or job due to gambling Relies on others to provide money for desperate financial situation caused by gambling Cannot be part of a Manic episode.
Gamblers Anonymous 12 Step Program Have no power over gambling. Ready to have characteristics of a gambler removed. Carry the message to other gamblers. Gamblers Anonymous 20 question survey Has gambling ever made your life unhappy? Do you ever borrow money to finance your gambling? Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of your family?
Signs of a Pathological Gambler Inability to accept reality Emotionally insecure (Gamblers Anonymous) Gambling causing major disruptions in any major area of life. (NCPG) [11C]-raclopride negatively correlated with impulsivity (Clark et. al. 2012)
Debt from Gambling Gamblers in studies have admitted to having up to 35,000 Some have gambled up over 10,000 in one day Some claim that they have no debt because they have the financial means to spend the money.
Brain functioning during anticipation A pathological gambler s brain works in different ways when it is anticipating a win or a loss compared to a healthy person or even a person with OCD (Choi et. al.)
Winning vs. Losing Anticipating a win The gambler s mind is less active then OCD and healthy participants Anticipating a loss Gamblers start to have much more brain activity when anticipating a loss than participants with OCD and the healthy control participants (Choi et. al.)
Dopamine and Gambling Studies have shown that Dopamine receptors in Pathological Gamblers are not the same as those who are addicted to chemically altering drugs. However, a negative correlation between impulsivity and [11C] Raclopride could be a risk factor. Pathological Gamblers also have a lower impulse control and seem to place bets on their mood. Good mood and want to celebrate by gambling Bad mood and want to cheer self up by gambling. (Clark et. al.2012)
Brenda Kay Brenda Kay shares her story about her struggles with gambling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzfrv3wcxmm
Brenda s signs Hid gambling Chasing Loses Missed payments for her house Opened new credit cards she could not afford Had no intention of paying debt Hid debt from husband Sought others for help financially for gambling problem
Can gambling become and addiction? Yes No Seems to follow the same path as other addictions Has common warning signs Dopamine receptors seem to function normally Could be more impulsive than addictive
My Conclusion Gambling can be an addiction. People seem to build up tolerance and withdrawal symptoms Loss of control to gambling is evident The anticipation factor Does not always have to be but it does fit the criteria. Does not block dopamine receptors Could be caused by chemicals in drugs
References Choi, J., Shin, Y., Jung, W., Jang, J., Kang, D., Choi, C., & Kwon, J. (2012) Altered brain activity during rewarded anticipation in pathological gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Plos ONE, 7(9), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045938 Clark, L., Stokes, P.R., Wu, K., Michalczuk, R., Benecke, A., Watson, B.J., & Lingford-Hughes, A.R. (2012) Striatal dopamine D 2 /D 3 receptor binding in pathological gambling is correlated with moodrelated impulsivity. Neuroimage, 63(1), 40-46. doi: 10.10116/j. neuroimage. 2012. 06.067
References (cont.) DSM-IV criteria: Pathological gambling, Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario, http://www.problemgambling.ca/en/resourc esforprofessionals/pages/dsmivcriteriapath ologicalgambling.aspx Gamblers Anonymous, http://www.gamblersanonymous.org National Council on Problem Gambling, http://www.ncpgambling.org/i4a/pages/index. cfm?pageid=1 (2010) Brenda Kay s story part 1-Gambling addiction recovery, Youtube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzfrv3wcxmm