Gambling addiction — What you need to know

Gambling addiction

Unlike regular gambling, pathological or compulsive gambling (often referred to as gambling addiction) involves a player losing control, denying that they have a problem, having a negative impact on their family and working life and making repeated efforts to ‘chase’ their losses. Gambling becomes central to the player’s existence, an all-powerful compulsion.

This addictive behaviour doesn’t just appear overnight. It develops gradually like a dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol or nicotine.

This process can typically be divided into the following three phases:

The winning phase

In this phase, players have their first positive contacts with gambling. Wins are often made early on, increasing self-esteem and creating a stronger bond with gambling. The gaming behavior is rather low-risk. Financial losses are acceptable and are viewed as the result of explainable external causes and are usually glossed over.

The losing phase

This phase sees players enjoy their first positive experience of gambling. In the early days, players often win, which increases their sense of self-worth and strengthens their ties to gambling. Their gambling behaviour tends to be low-risk. Financial losses are within the bounds of the acceptable and are usually glossed over as the result of explicable external causes.

Generally, it is in this phase that a gradual distancing from friends and family begins. The course is set for isolation.

Desperation

The player has completely lost control of their behaviour and is unable to stop gambling. Gambling has become a central purpose in life. Work obligations and other interests are ignored. Excessive gambling and getting hold of money are the focus of the player’s day-to-day existence.

This phase of gambling addiction is associated with personality changes and even a loss of social status. Consequences include a loss of relationships, work and respect. The player finds themselves in a vicious circle and is seldom able to escape without professional help and therapy.

Early recognition

Recognizing signals early on that could be signs of future gambling addiction is of great importance and offers the chance to get support and help in good time. Those affected, but also their caregivers (family members, colleagues, superiors) can make an initial assessment based on the following criteria:

Signs of problem gambling:

The person in question …

is determined to stop gambling but relapses
fails to stick to self-imposed time and budget limits and is increasingly losing control of their gambling
becomes agitated and aggressive without an opportunity to gamble
tries to make up for previous losses by gambling again
gambles with borrowed money
ignores problems that their gambling is causing for their family and friends or at work
neglects their appearance
increasingly isolates themselves and shows no interest in friends or hobbies