The Psychology Behind Gambling Addictions

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Gambling is the prosperous type of entertainment across the UK, but sometimes, it becomes a form of addiction for some people. From a recent study conducted by Cambridge scientists, it has been revealed that as a game, gambling promotes an ‘illusion of control’ and the advantages of brain imaging techniques facilitate those scientists to figure out the psychology behind it.

The Present Trend in Gambling

Even with the current changes for gambling in the legislation of the UK, its popularity is still continuing. With the emergence of online gambling (excellent Wikipedia article) and electronic gaming machines, building up new casinos, the trend of gambling is flourishing. In fact, gambling as a recreational activity, more than 70% of the British population enjoys it at least annually.

Where Does the Problem Lie?

Unfortunately, all these thriving forms come at a cost – for a certain percentage of people, gambling is a rising habit that they are unable to control. Rather than enjoying the game, they are being addicted to gambling since it is now a recognised psychiatric disorder found among 1% of the entire population. The addiction rate of problem gambling or pathological gambling is even higher in the local community with the gambling facility. In fact, doctors and clinicians are worried that due to the relaxation of the British legislation, the problem of gambling addiction will be more severe in the following years.

Imaging the Gambling Brains

With the progression of brain imaging technology, the scientists are trying to figure out although it is sure that there will be certainly some odds in the game that prevent the gamblers to win a steady profit, what leads the gambling addict person to continue playing even when they will lose money. Here measuring the patterns of brain activity with the functional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI), the scientists found that a particular region of the brain called the striatum located near the centre of the brain plays a crucial role to stimulate the brain for gambling addictions.

Hallmarks of Gambling Addictions

Due to the stimulation from the striatum and personal choice, the gambling players tend to play longer and place a larger amount of bets. Those gambling addict persons have the distorted perception of their chances to win that may instigate them to ‘loss chasing’ where they keep on playing with the hope to get back the accumulating debts. Loss chasing is one of the most prominent signs of gambling addiction that has similarity with drug addiction.

Along with several psychological factors, the people who are addicted to gambling may have some significant biological determinants. The brain chemical dopamine plays a key role in problem addiction. Those people tend to face some subtle imbalances in their brain region that lead them towards the transition from regular gambling to the gambling addictions.

Help for Problem Gambling

With the further understanding of the psychology behind the gambling addiction, it is clear that there is the breakdown of self-control occurred among the addicted gamblers. At that point, they need gambling help with the treatments like pharmacological and psychological therapies. It is expected that with the understanding of the subtle psychology of the gambling addiction, future changes in the gambling legislation may be helpful to protect the vulnerable individuals from this addiction.