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.
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Gamblers Anonymous is a group that was founded in 1957 in California. It was created by two individuals who had great difficulty abstaining from gambling and spent time discussing their problem, which they found alleviated it. They based Gamblers Anonymous on groups like aftercare facilities for alcoholics in Edmonton, Alcoholics Anonymous, which operated under the idea that peer support, honesty and a desire to change could help a person overcome their addiction.
Today, Gamblers Anonymous is a world wide program that allows anyone with a desire to stop gambling a membership. The group offers support in person, over the phone and online in order to prevent compulsive gambling. It is not affiliated with any institution or denomination and there is no membership fee due in order to join. The only requirement for membership is that the individual desires to quit gambling.
Many people who are addicted to gambling try repeatedly to bring their addiction under control alone, to no avail. At Gamblers Anonymous, the organization does a lot to help people understand why they are different from others and why they struggle with gambling so much. A big part of their philosophy is helping people to understand that they cannot control who they are or the fact that they are different, but they do have control over the choices they make and how they view themselves.