Alcohol and gambling are similar in that some people are able to do them in moderation, whilst for others the lure of becoming addicted is just too strong. New research has highlighted a difference between the brains of those who gamble or take alcohol for recreational purposes and those who are deeply addicted.
Inside the brains of pathological gamblers, the area of the brain that controls reward expectancy is abnormally increased, which makes them come up with overoptimistic ideas about the potential rewards of their gambling, which in turn urges them to gamble further. Researchers used scans to look at brain activity during a gambling activity on both those who were pathological gamblers and those who were not. The brain activity between the two groups varied greatly, which seems to show a physical and structural change between the makeup of addicted gamblers and non-gamblers, meaning that the behaviour may be, to some extent, out of their control.
Gambling has recently been added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders, making it the first non-substance-related addiction to be added to the ‘addiction and related disorders’ category of the manual. Some scientists and healthcare providers now believe that routine questions about gambling should be asked alongside questions about drug and alcohol use, as it is a similar category of problem.
The desire that gamblers feel to carry on gambling is often described as ‘intense’ or even as a craving, which gives some indication of the physical feeling that gamblers have which could stem from their brain makeup and could start to explain why it is that a seemingly harmless activity can become so addictive and dangerous in certain individuals.