Drug and alcohol addictions are well-known for the damage they cause, but people can struggle with other addictions, too. Known as process addictions, this includes a compulsive need to engage in certain behaviors like gaming, shopping, or sex no matter the cost, with consequences that are severe enough to interfere with daily life. One of the most common and harmful process addictions is a gambling addiction, which can wreak havoc on a person’s finances, relationships, career and more.

At The Guest House, we know how serious a gambling addiction can be. In addition to the financial strain it can cause, compulsive gambling can cost you your mental, physical and emotional health as the stress takes a toll on your mind and body. And if you’ve borrowed money from friends or family to cover your losses, it can jeopardize your relationships, too. But if you feel like you’ve hit bottom and that all hope is lost, we can help. It’s never too late to break the cycle and build a better future by taking the first steps toward long-term recovery.

What is a Gambling Addiction?

Gambling addiction often starts with the feeling you get with your first big win. It can be exciting to place a bet or roll the dice, like an adrenaline rush, and the high of a win reinforces this feeling by activating the brain’s reward pathways. But the thrill of gambling isn’t all about winning — it’s about the possibility of winning, and for a gambling addict, engaging in the behavior itself is enough to create a high similar to that of drugs or alcohol. Unlike a casual gambler who will stop when losing, a gambling addict will continue to chase the high of winning with the thought that their big break is just around the corner.

But like drugs or alcohol, gambling too much can lead to tolerance, where soon a low-risk bid or small payout doesn’t feel significant anymore. Before long, it takes more frequent and riskier gambling to produce the same thrilling feeling. Unfortunately, the human brain tends to remember the good times and dismiss the bad, making it easy to forget that the losses are stacking up and the odds are against you. Over time, a gambling addict will find that their behavior is out of their control and may feel hopeless to stop despite the consequences.

What Causes Gambling Addiction?

Just like with other addictions, compulsive gambling doesn’t have one single cause or reason that it develops in some people, but not in others. Certain risk factors can make one more likely to develop a gambling addiction, however, including a history of trauma, co-occurring mental health disorders, substance abuse, and genetics. Gambling addictions tend to affect men more than women, and may be triggered by stressful life events by acting as an escape or distraction. It’s also not uncommon for gambling addicts to suffer from depression, anxiety or bipolar episodes. And while a gambling addiction doesn’t rely on substances to produce a high, drug and alcohol use can fuel problematic gambling by lowering inhibitions, interfering with rational thinking and facilitating risk-taking behavior. Due to the complex nature of gambling addiction and underlying factors like mental illness, substance abuse or trauma, professional help is often needed to address the root of this behavior and achieve lasting recovery.

Signs of Gambling Addiction

Gambling addiction has the potential to ruin lives, but the signs might not be as outwardly obvious as those of drug or alcohol abuse. If you suspect that you or a loved one may have a problem with gambling, there are some symptoms to look for that may indicate the need for professional help, including:

Financial or legal problems due to gambling
Lying about or hiding the frequency of gambling activity
Frequently borrowing money to cover losses
Increased debt and falling behind on bills
Unable to stop or control the impulsive to gamble
Needing to gamble with increasing sums of money to achieve the same high or thrill
Chasing losses to try and win back money
Risking your job, relationships, financial stability or mental health to gamble
Feelings of despair and hopelessness after a gambling binge
Gambling to deal with stress or boredom, and feeling anxious when unable to gamble
Preoccupation with gambling that has overshadowed other hobbies or interests

If you notice these signs in yourself or someone you care about, don’t hesitate to reach out for help. Personalized treatment options at The Guest House can help eliminate problem gambling by providing the support and tools needed to process unresolved trauma, regain control and develop new coping skills for a sustainable recovery.

Gambling Addiction Treatment at The Guest House

A common misconception about gambling addiction is that it’s only a problem if you’re losing. In reality, gambling addiction is an emotional disorder that goes beyond financial losses. While most compulsive gamblers will experience financial difficulties as a result of their behavior, the amount of money lost doesn’t determine the severity of a gambling addiction — rather, it’s the overall negative impact on a person’s life and the inability to stop that indicates a need for help.

At The Guest House, we know that compulsive gambling is a complex and difficult behavior to overcome. The thrill of gambling is often used as a distraction to cope with stress or trauma, but can quickly spiral out of control as addiction takes hold. And since gambling addiction often co-occurs with mental health or substance use disorders, comprehensive treatment is needed to break the cycle and establish healthier behaviors.

That’s why we combine highly-personalized treatment plans with conventional and experiential therapies that address the mental, physical and emotional impact of problem gambling. Our holistic approach can provide the tools needed to implement new coping skills, better understand harmful behaviors and overcome the compulsive need to gamble. By looking at all aspects of a gambling disorder, we can help you or your loved one find lasting solutions for a life free from the highs and lows of a gambling addiction.

Learn More About Process Addictions

Unlike substance abuse, which is fairly straightforward and easy for others to understand, process addictions are more complicated. Rather than getting hooked on drugs or alcohol, an individual with a process addiction is addicted to the feeling they experience when performing a certain behavior or action. This includes addictions to gambling, sex, shopping or video games, as well as disordered eating and self-harm. With process addictions, the “substance” or “high” involved is actually a surge of feel-good chemicals released in the brain when engaging in a certain action or behavior. When we look at process addictions, we look for many of the same markers or signs that are present in substance use disorders, including:

Focusing more time and attention on certain things than you should
Wanting to cut back or stop but not managing to, despite repeated efforts
Experiencing cravings and the urge to engage in a behavior
Inability to manage duties and responsibilities at home, work or school
Unwilling to change a harmful habit or behavior regardless of the problems it causes
Giving up important social, occupational and recreational activities due to a process addiction
Sacrificing personal relationships to engage in certain behaviors
Increasing the intensity or frequency of a behavior to get the same effect (tolerance)
Being unable to abstain without discomfort, distress and other symptoms (withdrawal)

In a process addiction, these symptoms apply to a compulsive behavior that an individual cannot control. While gambling addiction is one of the more well-known examples of a process addiction, some other examples include the following behaviors, listed below.

Disordered Eating — Unhealthy behaviors related to food. This can include overeating, anorexia or restrictive eating, bulimia or purging, binge eating, using exercise excessively to burn calories and even compulsive dieting.
Sex Addiction — Compulsions related to sex, which can include seeking out affairs, excessive masturbation or pornography use, sexual or romantic anorexia, frequent anonymous sex and the urge to engage in risky sexual behaviors. When sex becomes a compulsive behavior or is used in an addictive way, it can be considered a sex addiction.
Self-Harm — This behavior includes cutting, burning, hair pulling or any other harmful acts used as a coping mechanism. Some feel that when they self-harm, they are escaping an internal numbness and prefer the pain over what they’re feeling otherwise, while others self-harm as a form of punishment or to express the pain they feel inside.
Video Game Addiction — When gaming becomes compulsive and excessive to the detriment of the individual, it can be considered an addiction. Gamers often lose time gaming for long periods, not realizing that hours have gone by.
Internet Addiction — An addiction to social media and the internet is similar to compulsive gaming when use becomes harmful and begins to interfere with daily life.

There are a number of other examples of process addictions, and anything that fits the criteria mentioned above can be an addiction.