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Every addiction is unique in its own right, and gambling is no exception. Gambling as an addiction has some qualities that set it apart from other addictions, such as what it takes for a gambler to achieve a high, the fact that it is a process addiction instead of a substance addiction, and the chemical award achieved through gambling is derived from an emotional state. There are those who would not even call compulsive gambling a legitimate addiction, but by every definition of the word addiction, compulsive gambling is indeed an addiction.
If a person is addicted to a substance, such as cocaine or alcohol, they probably would not understand the high that a compulsive gambler achieves from gambling. A substance addiction is entirely different from a process addiction. It relies on a chemically induced altered perception where as a process addiction relies on repetitive behaviors in order to achieve a high. Both processes ultimately achieve the much desired brain chemical dopamine for the addict, but they go about it in very different ways. Where as a substance addiction requires a chemical alteration to the body and the brain, a process addiction creates thrills for the addict through actions they take.
When the chemical reward of an addiction comes entirely from an emotional state, the addiction is not stronger or weaker than a substance addiction. It is merely different. Both types of addiction can be equal in the harm they do the addict and those who become involved in their addiction. Often, substance addictions are thought of as the more dangerous type of addiction because of the severe consequences of overdosing on or withdrawing from the substance. But in actuality, process addictions can have just as serious of ramifications on a person’s life and health. For example, a sex addiction may lead to sexually transmitted diseases or asphyxiation, while a gambling addiction can lead to borrowing money from the wrong people and later having bookies break your legs.
Gambling is not necessarily like other addictions. It stands alone in some of its characteristics. It does, however, resemble other addictions in some ways. Gambling is a process addiction, like a number of other addictions. It supplies the addict with dopamine, like every other addiction does. And it only causes harm to a person’s life by depleting their resources and personal wellness. Though compulsive gambling is not always taken seriously as an addiction and is qualified by some as merely a bad habit, it actually has all the classic attributes of an addiction.
Gambling is a process addiction. This means that its addictive qualities are arrived at through a repeated series of behaviors rather than a chemical high. Other similar process addictions may include sex addiction and shopping addiction. Believe it or not, a chemical process actually does take place in reaction to carrying the process out, and it is what the addict is trying to achieve with their behavior.
The chemical process is the creation of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is what our brains create to express pleasure. When we find something that creates dopamine, we tend to return to it frequently. Addicts return to it too frequently for reasons that are still somewhat mysterious. When a person gambles, or carries out any other process addiction, they achieve the dopamine they are seeking through behavior that gratifies them. Contrary to popular opinion, it is not the substances used in addiction that keeps the addict returning for more; it is the dopamine.
And like all addictions, a gambling addiction will take a person’s life apart if it is allowed to thrive. No addiction is sustainable because it is, by definition, overusing something to an unnatural extent. In the case of a gambling addiction, people often lose their money, their homes, their cars, their jobs and their relationships to their addiction because they set their sole focus on their addiction rather than their responsibilities.