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Help with a Gambling Addiction
Gambling Addiction
A gambling addiction often starts as a fun pastime, but the desire to win can increase and lead to a gambling addiction. U-center offers help with gambling addiction in a short and intensive treatment.
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What is a Gambling Addiction
A trip to the casino, online poker, betting on a race: gambling addiction often starts as a fun pastime. It's exciting and initially, there may be some wins. However, the desire to win more and experience that euphoric feeling can increasingly take hold and ultimately lead to addiction. Someone who is addicted to gambling needs more and more to achieve that same euphoric feeling and secretly takes more risks.
A gambling addiction is characterised by a loss of control. When you're addicted to gambling, it dominates your life and you spend a lot of time and money on it. Often, this comes at the expense of your daily life and has negative consequences on your work and personal life. In that case, it can be helpful to seek help for your gambling addiction. With treatment, you can learn to deal with your gambling addiction and regain control of your life.
What is an addiction?Other behavioral addictions
When are you addicted to gambling?
Characteristics of Gambling Addiction
It can be difficult to recognize a gambling addiction. Just like a substance addiction, a gambling addiction starts very gradually.
Symptoms of Gambling Addiction
Not everyone who gambles becomes addicted to it. In the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), gambling addiction is described as a "gambling disorder." It lists several symptoms of a gambling addiction. A gambling addiction or gambling disorder can be recognized by a number of characteristics:
Show symptoms
- You think a lot about gambling and spend a lot of time finding ways to get money for gambling.
- You often try to win back lost money by gambling, which increases your debts.
- You don't gamble with others (anymore), but usually alone.
- You gamble with increasingly larger amounts to experience the same kick. As a result, your debts become higher and higher.
- You cannot stop or reduce gambling, and previous attempts to stop have failed.
- You gamble secretly and lie about how much time and money you invest in gambling.
- Your gambling behavior comes at the expense of your relationships, work, and daily routine.
- You think a lot about gambling and spend a lot of time finding ways to get money for gambling.
- You often try to win back lost money by gambling, which increases your debts.
- You don't gamble with others (anymore), but usually alone.
- You gamble with increasingly larger amounts to experience the same kick. As a result, your debts become higher and higher.
- You cannot stop or reduce gambling, and previous attempts to stop have failed.
- You gamble secretly and lie about how much time and money you invest in gambling.
- Your gambling behavior comes at the expense of your relationships, work, and daily routine.
Treatment
Help for Gambling Addiction
If you recognize yourself in the above characteristics, it may be a good idea to seek help. At U-center, you will work on your gambling addiction with an intensive treatment.
It can be difficult to overcome your gambling addiction on your own. Sometimes certain situations can make you feel the urge to gamble again. Like other addictions, gambling addiction is a disorder where you have lost control over your gambling behavior. Are you looking for help to stop gambling? U-center offers gambling addiction help through an intensive treatment.
Our addiction treatment
Why is gambling addictive?
Like with other addictions, some individuals are more susceptible to gambling addiction than others. The immediate reward in many gambling games can have an addictive effect on some people. Whether you become addicted to gambling often depends on a combination of biological, psychological, and sociological factors. Gambling addiction often occurs in combination with a mental disorder or substance addiction. Suppressing negative emotions can also be a trigger for a gambling problem. Gambling addiction often doesn't come alone but often occurs in combination with other mental problems. That's why U-center offers help for your gambling addiction and underlying problems in treatment.
Causes of addictionConsequences of a gambling addiction
A gambling addiction often results in financial problems. The tendency to gamble to recover losses increases and can lead to ever-increasing financial problems. Debts pile up, and you see no way out.
In addition to financial problems, a gambling addiction often has negative consequences on your relationships and work. People with a gambling addiction often do not dare to be honest about the debts incurred through gambling. This often results in isolation and loneliness, leading to depressive feelings. U-center treats your gambling addiction and underlying symptoms simultaneously so that you can regain control over your life.
Treatment for your addiction
This page has been professionally reviewed on medical accuracy
At U-center, we understand the importance of providing reliable and accurate information to our visitors. That's why we have experts in the field review our website to ensure that all information presented is medically accurate.
Page Reviewed by:
Hans Zander
Addiction Specialist Doctor
Hans Zander is a dedicated addiction specialist at U-center who has reviewed this page to ensure that all information is accurate and reliable.