Just like drugs and alcohol, gambling can stimulate your brain’s reward system. The brain becomes adopted into wanting and liking more and more can trigger your reward system. These addictions (including gambling addiction) can affect in two different ways in the brain that also impacts behaviors- wanting and liking. If you are a person or your friend who loves to play the game of chance, it may offer a small rush of excitement.
When people get addicted to drugs, gambling, their wanting and liking methods won’t intertwine. The wanting may remain constant and the feeling of liking can be reduced. Addicted people tend to participate in several of the behaviors or take the drug to get the same pleasure.
Several factors can cause risks to people if they are addicted to gambling such as they involve family members to be addicted, and face high levels of stress or adversity. One study that used brain scans showed that gamblers have lower impulse control compared to the general population.
What is Gambling Addiction?
Gambling addiction is a growing addiction or an impulse disorder that may have severe consequences psychologically, physically, and socially. It is referred to as pathological gambling, gambling disorder, and compulsive gambling.
Compulsive Gambling seems critical
If you like gambling and you can’t control the impulse towards gambling is called compulsive gambling. It can affect your loved ones. If you experience compulsive gambling then you may chase bets that lead to losses, spend your money, try to hide your behavior, or even want to steal or fraud to fulfill your addiction. This addiction may motivate you to fulfill your desire repeatedly.
Compulsive gambling can lead to serious problems that can ruin your life. It can be treated if you get help from professionals.
What happens to the brain?
In order to understand gambling addiction properly, you need to understand how the brain naturally works when you enjoy gambling or other activities. The brain has a set of circuits called the reward system. They are attached to different regions of the brain, particularly the motivation and pleasure centers. Rewarding experiences include when someone praises you, having sex, completing a task may cause the brain to send signals through neurotransmitters which are chemical messengers that depress/stimulate neurons in the brain.
The major neurotransmitter in the brain is called dopamine. If ample amounts of dopamine are released because of stimulating, exciting activities, you may experience pleasure, euphoria, and feeling motivated can help to involve in the same activities.
For example, when a person consumes drugs can create a high by boosting the dopamine that is released in the brain (reward system) up to ten times more than the number of pleasure experiences could generate. It also occurs in gambling.
Research and studies have shown that gambling effects on the brain are similar to how drugs can do- by releasing a larger amount of dopamine. This is the reason people are excited to play gambling for a highly rewarding experience.
Causes
People who play cards or wager may not develop a gambling addiction whereas compulsive gambling is associated with severe risks. It may occur because of genetic, biological, and environmental factors.
Prevention
Follow these easy tips to prevent the addiction.
- You should be aware of the problem.
- Ask for help or talk to the person who is closest to you
- You should avoid the temptation of gambling
- Postponing gambling may help avoid compulsive gambling
- The best way to avoid addiction is to find alternatives to gambling.
- You should aware of the consequences of gambling
- Seek help from professionals
Gambling addiction can become a severe disorder if it is ignored. Many educational programs should be organized to create awareness. If you have the signs of compulsive awareness you should visit a professional or take treatment to prevent it before it becomes worse.
