Like a drug or alcohol addiction, compulsive gambling does not discriminate. The disorder affects people in all social classes. Gambling controls you, your money, your decisions and your well-being. And like other addictions, it slowly tears apart an addict's family, friends, and career.

If you think you have a gambling problem, gambling addiction counseling can help. The following information will answer some of your questions and show you treatment options.

Am I Addicted to Gambling?
To be diagnosed, an addiction specialist performs a psychiatric evaluation. An evaluation usually involves American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which classifies disorders using a test. Here are the first five questions from the Pathological Gambling test.

  • Is preoccupied with gambling (e.g. is preoccupied with reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping, or planning the next venture, or thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble)
  • Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement
  • Has repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop gambling
  • Is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling
  • Gambles as a way of escaping from problems or relieving a dysphonic mood (e.g. feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)

To get an idea without seeking professional help, take Gamblers Anonymous 20-question test. Seven “yes” responses suggest a compulsion to gambling. Here’s a sample of the "yes/no" questions.

  • Have you ever gambled to escape worry, trouble, boredom or loneliness?
  • Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to gamble?
  • Did gambling make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
  • Were you reluctant to use “gambling money” for normal expenditures?
  • Have you ever felt remorse after gambling?

Additionally, check out the screening tests on the National Council on Problem Gambling.

Four Stages of Gambling Addiction
The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery lists these four stages of gambling addiction.

In the winning phase (1), a gambler has a big win creating excitement and a positive but exaggerated view of their talents for gambling. They think they'll keep on winning because they are good. They spend more time and more money on gambling.

The losing phase (2) sees gamblers starting to become obsessed with it, gambling alone, borrowing money, skipping work, lying to friends and family. This period is like the crack addict “chasing” that original high that will never emerge again. It’s like chasing your tail.

Gamblers lose all control in the desperation phase (3). They will do anything to finance their addiction including steal. Shame and guilt overwhelm in this stage. Mood swings are the norm. But the gambler can’t stop. Often, alcohol abuse comes in as well as loss of job, divorce, and arrest.

The hopeless stage (4) is the bottoming out moment. A gambler’s thoughts are ones of hopelessness, no one caring, and suicide.

Gambling Addiction Counseling
Like many other addictions and disorders, compulsive gamblers often come with their obsession with beating the odds and a major depressive disorder. In fact, 76% of gamblers have a major depressive disorder, according to an American Family Physician article. This combination is known as a dual diagnosis.

Because of this dual diagnosis, addiction specialists recommend treating both disorders at the same time because one affects the other and vice versa.

Generally, medical professionals recommend several approaches to gambling addiction counseling. Here are several treatment approaches.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on the gambling addiction as a learned behavior and relies on identifying and changing beliefs and social skills training.

The goal of CBT for gambling, according to a Massachusetts study, is to "identify and change 'cognitive distortions and errors' that are associated with intemperate gambling…for example, beliefs in an eventual big win, being unrealistically lucky, superstitious behavior…."

One way to do this is "validate predictions in a variety of gambling simulated or actual scenarios that test mathematical and logical thinking," using coin tosses, picking lottery numbers, etc.

Other aspects of CBT training include role-playing, imaging, goal setting impulse management and self-monitoring.

Gamblers’ Anonymous meetings are support groups where participants share stories and learn from one another. Meetings occur all across the country and are free.  

Medications can be helpful in treatment. Addiction medications like naltrexone and antidepressants such as clomipramine and fluvoxamine have shown to be successful.  

One self-help approach is a series of daily steps for dealing with obsessive-compulsive disorder called the Four Steps. The steps are:

  • Re-label: recognize and re-label a thought or urge as an obsession or compulsion.
  • Reattribute: Recognize that your thoughts and urges are caused by a compulsive disorder.
  • Refocus: "work around the OCD thoughts and urges by shifting attention to something else, if only for a few minutes."
  • Revalue: "Do not take the OCD thought at face value. It is not significant in itself."

Summary
Gambling addiction counseling is crucial if you are to gain control of your life from the power of compulsive gambling. The alternatives—loss of family, friends, job and possibly jail—are not worth the cost.

If your loved one is a compulsive gambler, you may want to consider an intervention.