Common Problems That Cause People to Gambling: How to Overcome Them

What exactly is gambling? Simply put, it is when you place your money at stake and wager on the outcome of an event. Gambling is an activity in which people place their money, either to win something, to lose something, or to try to figure out if they will win or lose something. Gambling requires three key elements for it to be legitimate: risk, consideration, and a reward. Without any of these three things, it can be considered simply gambling.

There are many different kinds of addictions, including alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and many others. However, all addictions share certain characteristics that make them far more common than people think, and some of these characteristics make gambling addiction a little more likely than other addictions. Just as with any other addiction, the higher risk factor makes gambling harder to cure.

The thing about addiction is that there are often genetic links to gambling behavior. Many people who suffer from addiction have also suffered from some kind of psychological problem in the past, and often gambling addiction runs in the family. Gambling addiction has also been linked to alcoholism and drug abuse, though those links are less clear cut. Genetics and psychological makeup play a role in the likelihood of developing gambling addiction, but so do many other factors.

For instance, people who have gambling addictions are more likely to also suffer from substance abuse problems, depression, anxiety disorders, and social problems. The higher risk factors for gambling addiction increases with age, and the severity of the addiction often worsens with time (especially if gambling occurs multiple times a day). Those who are gambling for a living may be gambling in addition to prescription medications, illegal drugs, alcohol, or prescription pills. It’s not uncommon for gamblers to have many other addictions going on at once.

What causes addictions to gambling behavior? There are a variety of theories, though most experts agree that the most common causes are the stressors that we encounter on a day-to-day basis. Some of these stressors cause our brains to release chemicals (neurotransmitters) that are designed to provide us with a sense of pleasure, but these substances also create the feeling that you need to gamble. As we continue to gamble, these chemicals become harder to control, and they continue to have the same effect on our brains as the first addictive substances did. Eventually, the chemical remnants from gambling behavior start to build up in our brain, and they eventually impair our thinking processes enough to make us want to gamble even more.

Although gambling addiction is a difficult addiction to beat, it can be beaten. The first step is to identify whether there are real issues that need to be dealt with, such as a physical or emotional problem. It’s often best to start with therapy to get rid of this problem, before we attempt to change our gambling habits. Most problems can be overcome, especially if you approach gambling addiction with a solution for the real issue.