Proclamation Problem Gambling Awareness Month 2022
Did you know New Hope IBHC is the only inpatient treatment center for problem gambling in the state of New Jersey?
Should you be concerned about your gambling? Take the quiz below and see how you score.
What is problem gambling? Often referred to as “gambling addiction” or “compulsive gambling”, it is an urge to gamble continuously despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. Problem gambling is often defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather than by the gambler’s behavior. Severe problem gambling may be diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets certain criteria. Pathological gambling is a common disorder that is associated with both social and family costs.
The DSM-5 has re-classified the condition as an addictive disorder, with sufferers exhibiting many similarities to those who have substance addictions. The term gambling addiction has long been used in the recovery movement. Pathological gambling was long considered by the American Psychiatric Association to be an impulse control disorder rather than an addiction. However, data suggest a closer relationship between pathological gambling and substance use disorders than exists between problem gambling and obsessive-compulsive disorder, largely because the behaviors in problem gambling and most primary substance use disorders seek to activate the brain’s reward mechanisms while the behaviors characterizing obsessive-compulsive disorder are prompted by overactive and misplaced signals from the brain’s fear mechanisms.