Pathological gambling refers to a severe psychological and physical addiction to gambling, such as card games, horse races and slot machines. According to MedlinePlus, this type of gambling leads to severe personal and social repercussions.
Symptoms
MedlinePlus indicates that some symptoms of pathological gambling include committing a crime to obtain money necessary to gamble and gambling to escape sadness. It also can cause restlessness and irritability if you are unable to gamble. Other symptoms include losing your job or spouse to gambling and borrowing money in order to gamble.
Population
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, pathological gambling typically strikes men 20 to 40 years of age.
Treatment
The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that pathological gambling typically is treated with self-help support groups such as Gamblers Anonymous and cognitive behavioral therapy (a type of talk-therapy). Antidepressants and opioid antagonist drugs may help treat pathological gambling, but it is not clear whether medications are effective.
Complications
Complications of pathological gambling include depression, anxiety, alcohol or drug abuse and financial or legal problems, according to MedlinePlus.
Other Names
The University of Maryland Medical Center states that pathological gambling also is called addictive gambling and compulsive gambling.
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