What is Problem Gambling?
In recent years there have been many psychological studies published on the issue of problem gambling. In response to the latest findings, governments and gambling authorities have campaigned for, and implemented, initiatives to help prevent its escalation and offer support to those suffering. Here at DogSlots we’re huge supporters of these initiatives and want all of our players to be well educated on the issue and to know where they can find help if they feel like their gambling habit has become compulsive.
While the majority of players will never develop symptoms of problem gambling, it’s always wise to be aware of the symptoms. This is especially the case if - as we’ll go over - you are a part of the demographic that are especially vulnerable to developing a compulsive gambling habit. This article will provide you with answers to what problem gambling is, its symptoms, how it can be diagnosed and the help you can receive if you feel your habit has become unmanageable.
Problem Gambling Defined
The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK define problem gambling as “gambling that disrupts or damages personal, family or recreational pursuits.” This definition is quite loose, but necessarily so as problem gambling can be diagnosed based on its severity, which at its most extreme is considered to be pathological.
For this reason, the US National Library of Medicine: National Institute of Health, considers problem gambling to be a “progressive disorder”. Their definition is more comprehensive, taking account of factors that are symptomatic of problem gambling, including a loss of control, a preoccupation with gambling and obtaining money with which to gamble, a disregard of consequences, and irrational thinking.
A diagnosis of problem gambling does not depend on how much or how frequently you gamble. For one to be diagnosed as a problem gambler, their habit must result in consequences that adversely affect the following criteria:
- The subject’s personal life.
- The lives of their friends or family.
- The subject’s professional life.
Nonetheless, it is accurate to say that there is a correlation between those that gamble frequently and spend more on gambling than the average gambler, and the likelihood that they develop a compulsive gambling habit.
Diagnosing Problem Gambling
Different organisations use alternative methods to diagnose problem gambling. One of the largest organisations set up to tackle problem gambling, Gamblers Anonymous, use a questionnaire composed of twenty questions. The organisations asks those looking for help to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the following propositions:
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Did you ever lose time from work or school due to gambling?
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Has gambling ever made your home life unhappy?
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Did gambling affect your reputation?
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Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?
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Did you ever gamble to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
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Did gambling cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
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After losing did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
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After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
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Did you often gamble until all your money was gone?
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Did you ever borrow to finance your gambling?
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Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?
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Were you reluctant to use “gambling money” for normal expenditures?
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Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
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Did you ever gamble longer than you have planned?
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Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom, loneliness, grief or loss?
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Have you ever committed or considered committing an illegal act to finance gambling?
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Did gambling cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
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Do arguments, disappointments or frustration create within you an urge to gamble?
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Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of gambling?
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Have you ever considered self-destruction or suicide as a result of your gambling?
You can take this questionnaire and receive feedback by going to the Gamblers Anonymous website. Once you fill in the questionnaire you will be presented with the following information: “Most compulsive gamblers will answer ‘Yes’ to at least 7 of these questions”. Providing that you answer ‘Yes’ to seven of the questions, you will have the option to speak to someone immediately, or receive information on the location of the closest Gamblers Anonymous meeting that you can attend and receive assistance in person.
Diagnosing Pathological Gambling
As previously mentioned, pathological gambling is the most severe form of problem gambling. The differences between problem gambling and its most extreme form are nuanced and require an official diagnosis from a recognised clinician.
Generally, it is diagnosed when the subject meets at least five of the following criteria - so long as their behaviours cannot be better explained by a manic episode:
Preoccupation - You have frequent thoughts about gambling. These thoughts can be based on actual gambling experiences in the past, the desire to gamble in the future, or gambling-related fantasies.
Tolerance - You find that you need to make larger or more frequent wagers to experience the same positive, emotional rewards.
Withdrawal - Attempts to reduce or abstain from gambling causes you to feel restless and irritable.
Escape - You gamble to improve your mood or escape from problems within your personal life.
Chasing - You try to recover your losses by gambling more.
Lying - You try to hide the extent of your gambling activities from your family, friends and therapist.
Loss of Control - You have tried to reduce your time spent gambling, but you’ve been unable to.
Crime - You have broken the law in an attempt to fund your gambling habit.
Jeopardizing Relationships - Gambling has negatively affected relationships in your personal or professional life.
Bailout - You have turned to family, friends or another third-party in an attempt to seek funds for your gambling habit.
Biology - You suffer from a lack of norepinephrine.
The Stages of Problem Gambling Development
The stages of the decline into problem gambling can be separated into long-term and short-term phases. While the long-term phases trace an emotional decline, the short-term phases trace the actual gambling activity.
We’ll go over both phases to illustrate what we mean by this:
The Linear Path of Problem Gambling
While problem gambling is not strictly pathological in its early phase, there is a pathological element to the progression of the disorder. Because of this, problem gambling can be broken down into four phases which reflect the general timeline within which one develops the disorder. According to the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery, these four phases can be identified as follows:
- Winning Phase A big win is often the starting point of problem gambling. This one, big win leads to a positive view of gambling, leading the subject to believe that they have either good luck on their side or a peculiar talent for gambling. WIthin the winning phase the subject succumbs to the irrational belief that winning is inevitable and, inevitably, the subject begins to spend more time and larger amounts on their gambling habit.
- Losing Phase Once problem gamblers become more preoccupied with gambling they turn to unhealthy gambling habits, such as gambling alone, borrowing money, prioritising gambling over their career, lying to their family and friends and disregarding their financial commitments. It is also in this phase that the subject will start to chase their losses.
- Desperation Phase This is where the subject’s gambling habit takes a sharp, compulsive turn. Not only can they not stop themselves from gambling, but they feel genuine shame and guilt after gambling. To fuel their addiction they may resort to stealing or cheating. This is also the phase in which the consequences of their addiction begin to come to light: this stage is where they are most likely to lose their jobs, divorce from their long-term partners, or even get arrested trying to fund their addiction.
- Hopeless Phase In the hopeless phase the subject is dejected. The severity of the situation is reflected by the subject’s desperation. They don’t believe that help or relief is possible. They are likely to turn suicidal or experience suicidal ideation. At this critical stage the subject is most vulnerable to developing a drug or alcohol dependency.
The Cyclical Nature of Problem Gambling
While the linear path traces the decline of a subject from gambler into problem gambler, it neglects to mention the cyclical pattern that occurs every time a problem gambler turns to gambling. The cyclical pattern outlined by GamCare illustrates the typical gambling activity of a pathological gambler with reference to the subject’s emotional processes in the moment.
Becoming conscious of the following process will help you ascertain the extent of your gambling habit:
Trigger
A problem gambler’s ‘Trigger’ refers to the factor that motivates the subject to gamble. These triggers can either be internal (emotional), or external (physical). An internal trigger may be something like depression, which the subject avoids by turning to gambling. An external trigger may be something as simple as seeing a slot machine or drinking alcohol. Often triggers are associational, and the more they are indulged in the more potent they become.Urge
The ‘Urge’ is what comes directly after the ‘Trigger’. The associational power of the trigger causes an emotional response, i.e. a desire to gamble. It is this desire that is referred to as the urge.
Gambling Episode
This urge then motivates the problem gambler to engage in a ‘Gambling Episode’. This gambling episode is not strictly a part of the pathology of problem gambling. Its importance in the cyclical pattern has more to do with the subject’s reaction to the outcome of the gambling episode. Gambling episodes can involve winning or losing; for problem gamblers the result is superficial.Further Gambling
The result is superficial because regardless of whether they win or lose, pathological gamblers will carry on gambling. When they lose they will chase their losses. When they win they will continue to play until they lose.Gambling Stops
Consequently the gambling will come to a halt. There are two reasons why this will happen: the gambler will either run out of money or run out of time.The Path to Recovery
There are a variety of psychotherapeutic methods used by clinicians to help a subject recover from problem gambling.
The two most common are:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - A type of ‘talking treatment’ with a focus on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes influence your feelings and actions. Pragmatically, you will be taught skills for comping with your gambling habit.
- Rational Emotive Therapy - A short-term form of psychotherapy that is used to identify and confront self-defeating thoughts and feelings. You will be taught how to challenge the rationality of these self-defeating thoughts and replace them with more positive beliefs.
Another psychotherapeutic method that psychologists use to treat problem gambling is outlined in Dr. Jefferey Schwartz’ book, Brain Lock. Schwartz breaks down his treatment into the following four different stages:
- Relabel: The subject becomes aware of the fact that the urge to gamble is little more than a symptom of their addiction, and that this is a treatable medical condition. In other words: the urge is not a valid feeling and doesn’t warrant their consideration.
- Reattribute: The subject begins to stop blaming themselves and recognises that the urge to gamble has a physical cause within their brain. They begin to separate themselves actively from the condition of their addiction. Within this stage they begin to learn self-control.
- Refocus: When the subject feels the urge to gamble, they are capable of shifting their attention to more productive and constructive matters. They learn to do other things, regardless of their compulsion.
- Revalue: In the final stage, subjects begin to learn that their flawed thoughts about gambling have no inherent value or power over them. They have successfully dissociated themselves from their addictive tendencies.
How to Positively Assist a Problem Gambler
Dealing with a problem gambler that is a friend or a member of your family can be a difficult task. If you are struggling with your gambling habit, or you suspect that a friend or family member is developing a gambling habit that qualifies as ‘problem gambling’, the American Psychiatric Association offers some helpful advice on how to tackle the problem without inexorably fracturing your relationship.
Before you confront your family or friends, consider the following tips:
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Do
- Seek support from people with similar issues. If possible, attend a self-help group for families.
- Keep your partner’s good qualities in mind.
- Try to remain calm, especially when speaking to your friend or family member about the consequences of their gambling habit.
- Let your friend or family member know that you are seeking help for your own sake.
- If you have children, explain to them what problem gambling is.
- Understand and come to terms with the fact that you need treatment and that it will take time and energy.
- Manage your money more effectively - take control of your family’s finances, if necessary.
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Do Not
- Lose control of your emotions. Preaching, lecturing or aggressive behaviour is unhelpful.
- Exclude the gambler from family life or other activities.
- Expect recovery to be quick. Stopping gambling for an intermittent period will not swiftly resolve all problems.
- Help to finance the personal debt accumulated by the gambler.
- Attempt to cover up the existence or the extent of your gambling habit to friends and family.
Who is Vulnerable to Problem Gambling?
Where You Can Find Help
If you fear that you or someone you know may have developed a problem gambling habit, there are a number of international and national sources you can go to for help.
Here’s our comprehensive list:
International Organisations
National Organisations
Europe:
North America:
South America:
Oceania:
Asia:
Africa:
