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Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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In this Article

• What is a gambling addiction?
• What are causes and risk factors for gambling addiction?
• What are symptoms and signs of a gambling addiction?
• How is a gambling addiction diagnosed?
• What is the treatment for gambling addiction?
• What are complications and negative effects of gambling addiction?
• Where can people get support for gambling addiction?
• Where can people find more information about gambling addiction?
• Gambling Addiction At A Glance
• Find a local Psychiatrist in your town
• Gambling Addiction Index

NAADAC - The Association for Addiction Professionals
1001 N. Fairfax St., Suite 201
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: 1-800-548-0497
Fax: 1-800-377-1136

UCLA Gambling Studies Program
http://www.uclagamblingprogram.org

Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling
1-800-426-1234
http://www.masscompulsivegambling.org

• Compulsive gambling affects 2%-5% of Americans, can involve a variety of ways and places to bet, and symptoms may differ somewhat between males and females, as well as teenagers versus adults.
• Although men tend to develop a gambling addiction at a higher rate and at younger ages than women, women now make up more than one-quarter of all compulsive gamblers, and women's symptoms tend to worsen faster once compulsive gambling develops.
• As opposed to pathological gambling, problem gambling involves more than one but less than five symptoms of compulsive gambling.
• Although direct causes of compulsive gambling are unusual, the manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder and some medications that treat Parkinson's disease and restless leg syndrome have been associated with the development of this disorder.
• Risk factors for pathological gambling include schizophrenia, mood problems, antisocial personality disorder, alcohol, or cocaine addiction.
• The diagnosis of compulsive gambling involves identifying at least five symptoms that indicate poor impulse control when it comes to gambling, as well as ruling out other potential causes of the behaviors.
• As with any mental-health condition, accurate diagnosis of gambling addiction requires a complete physical and psychological evaluation, including a mental-status examination and appropriate laboratory tests to rule out other possible causes of the symptoms that are being observed.
• The treatment of compulsive gambling usually uses more than one approach, including psychotherapy, medication, financial counseling, support groups, 12-step programs, and self-help techniques.
• Although pathological gambling may resolve with time on its own in many individuals, the devastating effects it usually has on the person's financial, family, legal, and mental-health status indicates that treatment should be attempted anyone who is motivated to get help for this disorder.

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