Gambling Addiction

The American Psychological Association consider Gambling to be an impulse disorder rather than an addiction. An impulse disorder is said to be chronic and progressive. The terms Gambling Addiction and Pathological Gambling are more widely used within the rehab industry.

http://www.Wikipedia.org cite 10 criteria which are widely acclaimed and internationally used to diagnose pathological gambling:

Preoccupation. The subject has frequent thoughts about gambling experiences, whether past, future, or fantasy.
Tolerance. As with drug tolerance, the subject requires larger or more frequent wagers to experience the same "rush".
Withdrawal. Restlessness or irritability associated with attempts to cease or reduce gambling.
Escape. The subject gambles to improve mood or escape problems.
Chasing. The subject tries to win back gambling losses with more gambling.
Lying. The subject tries to hide the extent of his or her gambling by lying to family, friends, or therapists.
Loss of control. The person has unsuccessfully attempted to reduce gambling.
Illegal acts. The person has broken the law in order to obtain gambling money or recover gambling losses. This may include acts of theft, embezzlement, fraud, or forgery.
Risked significant relationship. The person gambles despite risking or losing a relationship, job, or other significant opportunity.
Bailout. The person turns to family, friends, or another third party for financial assistance as a result of gambling.

Someone would be considered to be a pathological gambler or addicted to gambling if they have five of the aforementioned symptoms. There is evidence to suggest that the physiological aspect of gambling addiction is linked to deficiencies in Norepinephrine and Serotonin.

Gambling Pharmaceutical Names:

Compulsive Gambling, Pathological Gambling, Impulse Control Disorder.

Gambling Street Names:

Back, bet, brave, buck the odds, cast lots, challenge, cut the cards, dare, defy, endanger, face, flip the coin, game, go for broke, hazard, imperil, jeopardize, lay money on, lot, make a bet, play, plunge, put, put faith in, put trust in, risk, set, shoot the moon, shoot the works, speculate, stake, stick one's neck out, take a flyer, tempt fortune, trust to luck, try one's luck, venture, wager

Gambling Forms:

Some Common forms of gambling include Casino games, Table Games, Slot Machines, Video Machines, Bingo, Keno, Lotteries, Scratch Cards, Card Games, Coin Tossing, Dice Games, Sports Betting, TV Results Betting, Football Pools, Events Betting, Prediction Betting, Stocks and Futures, Staking Systems.

Gambling History:

Gambling can be traced back to when mankind first walked the earth. We have prepared a timeline with a few significant dates for your interest.

2300 BC Gambling artifacts found in China
2300 BC Chinese invent a tiled game
1500 BC Ivory dice found in Egypt
1200 BC Greek soldiers amuse themselves with dice games
1st C Kings or Norway and Sweeden Gamble over land
9th c Chinese invent a machine to shuffle cards
14th C King Henry VIII outlawed gambling in the UK
1698 Lotteries were passed as illegal in the Uk without express government permission
1793 George Wahington buys a ticket in Americas first ever lottery
1930 Horse racing became legal in America
1956 Small lotteries were libiralised in the UK
1960 Uk bookmakers were licensed 'off course'
1993 National Lottery was licensed in the UK
2004 Euromillions 'Supper Lottery' was launched with 9 supporting countries

Gambling Side Effects:

Stress-related physical and psychological ill health. family breakdown, domestic violence, criminal activity, disruption to or loss of employment and social isolation, anger, frustration, irritability.

Gambling Overdose:

Whilst the idea of a gambling overdose in a conventional sense is clearly absurd, psychiatric news report that between 8% to 21% of gamblers anonymous members have successfully committed suicide.

Gambling Withdrawals:

Whilst not always the case Gambling withdrawals can include, Sweating, Palpatations, Itching, Mood Swings,