Pathological Gambling
Pathological gambling, also known as compulsive gambling or disordered gambling, is a recognized mental disorder characterized by a pattern of continued gambling despite negative physical, psychological, and social consequences.
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW156
Diagnosis: Pathological Gambling
US Patients: 0.6 of 1%
World Patients:
Sex Ratio: M+;W
Age Onset:
Brain Area: some victims have lower norepinephrine than normal gamblers, which is normally secreted under stress or thrill; or lack serotonin.
Symptoms: Continuous gambling despite negative consequences to self or family and in spite of desire to stop. Also considered an addiction.
Progression:
Causes: impulsivity and comorbidity with alcohol problems; dopamine dysregulation has been observed.
Medications: paroxetine, lithium, palmefene
Therapies: Gamblers’ Anonymous, CBT, 1/3 recover by themselves
Youtube Video: A Look at Problem Gambling
Amazon or Library Book: Can’t Just Stop:
An Investigation of Compulsion (Gambling)

Support Group: gamblersanonymous.org; 626-960-3500
(Gamblers’ Anonymous International)
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Multi-operator Self-exclusion as a Harm Reduction Measure in Problem Gambling: Retrospective Clinical Study on Gambling Relapse Despite Self-exclusionby Anders Håkansson on August 19, 2022
CONCLUSIONS: The nationwide, multi-operator self-exclusion service of Sweden appears to reach many patients with a gambling disorder. However, the remaining gambling options in an web-based gambling setting present a major challenge despite self-exclusion. The recent data calls for further treatment efforts and potential improvements in services aiming to help voluntary self-excluders abstain from gambling.
- Understanding exercise addiction, psychiatric characteristics and use of anabolic androgenic steroids among recreational athletes - An online survey studyby Björn Gunnarsson on August 18, 2022
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this paper was to explore maladaptive behaviors among physically active individuals, including exercise dependence and use of anabolic steroids. Both exercise addiction (EA) and use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) correlate to high amounts of exercise and EA have been linked to eating disorders and other mental health problems.
- 'The Last Shot' - The Shared and Distinct Brain Regions Involved in Processing Unexpectedness of Success and Failure in the Context of Social Cooperationby Peng Li on August 18, 2022
Individual success and failure in social cooperation matter not only to oneself but also to teammates. However, the common and distinct neural activities underlying salient success and failure in social cooperation are unclear. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, participants in the social group (Experiment one) cooperated with two human beings during a dice-gambling task, whereas those in the nonsocial group (Experiment two) cooperated with two computers. The social...
- Capturing daily-life executive impairments in adults: Does the choice of neuropsychological tests matter?by Morgan J Schaeffer on August 18, 2022
CONCLUSION: Results align with evidence that self-reported EF difficulties are not adequately captured by formal neuropsychological measures, even for performance-based measures which directly tap everyday constructs. Findings are interpreted cautiously in the context of a small, high-functioning sample.