Is Gambling an Addiction?

Gambling as the act of “playing” or gambling entails that you take part in some kind of wager with or against someone or something. Gambling is nothing but the strategic wagering on some future occurrence with the intention of winning something other than your initial wager. Gambling therefore requires three components to exist: risk, consideration, and a stake.

Gambling as a form of addiction is like any other addiction in that it requires treatment in order to overcome it. While it is believed that there are no gambling addiction types, the most common types include the more visible – addiction to gambling, such as betting, gambling, etc. Other less-obvious addictions are more common, and involve things like dieting, pornography, shopping, etc., – and higher risk gambling, which typically involves sports betting and high-stakes poker games.

This is why many addiction specialists, including professionals at the American Society of Addiction Medicine, believe that addictions are best treated by a multi-pronged approach. Treatment should address the addictive properties of the behavior, while also addressing the associated problems. Many gambling addictions are rooted in some sort of stressors in the individual’s life. In other cases, an addiction is made worse by the fact that the individual cannot easily develop a sense of reward, or has to use other methods to do so. Gambling can create these sorts of stresses in people who have not learned to effectively manage their emotions. Thus, there must be a clear connection between the behavior, the underlying stresses, and the person’s inability to function normally.