Is Gambling The Most Insidious Addiction?
Today we’re gonna break down one of the things that I come across very often in my practice - gambling addiction. Why is it so addictive? How does it rewire the brain? Why do people do it? What makes it different from other digital addictions? Well, here’s a crash course.
Let’s start with some gambling basics.
Gambling is one of the oldest behavioural addictions known to man. In fact this is why gambling is often discouraged across cultures and religions. In modern times, the most common gambling problems are related to sports betting, casino games and especially in Australia where I practice - poker machines.
How do people get “hooked” ?
Gambling is addictive because it hijacks the dopaminergic system or “reward system” in our brains. In fact, it does so in a way that elicits the maximum dopamine response - which is why it is so addictive. Most of us think of dopamine as a reward or fix when we get to our goal. But specifically, dopamine levels peak in anticipation of the objective not when that objective is actually achieved.
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for “drive”, think about it as the “get after it” signal. It motivates goal-directed behaviour. What’s important to note is that, when you DON’T achieve your objective, such as winning a round in a game or winning your bet - your dopamine levels, your drive and your motivation to repeat the behaviour increase regardless! So let that sink in, “If I don't get my reward every single time, I’ll be more motivated than if I did”. For my fellow psych-nerds, this is called a “variable ratio reinforcement schedule”.
In short, because of the way our brains are wired and how dopamine behaves, we work WAY harder when the reward is uncertain. Increased dopamine in the face of uncertainty is WHY people who consume porn have multiple tabs open looking for that perfect video, why gamers keep entering lobbies looking for that win and you guessed it… Why gamblers keep gambling no matter how grave the financial setback.
Psychologists have studied the heck out of this in rats, in pigeons, chimps and humans. Turns out, from all of those organisms this engagement with uncertainty is trickiest in humans. This is because humans develop beliefs, theories and systems to try and justify profit from this randomly allocated reward. The factors affecting drive and behaviour are much more complex and personalised in humans. On top of everything, chronic gambling trains your brain to have urges to gamble, be driven to gamble, be reminded of gambling, and even dream of gambling.
In some cases, gamblers report a trance-like state while gambling that is out of their control, some report that they use gambling to escape difficult emotions such as stress or depression while others report that gambling is simply a habit that they cannot shake. How gambling is framed in every gambler’s belief system is different so the remedy is never going to be exactly the same, but how the addiction takes a hold tends to follow the same set of stages.
So how does gambling turn into a problem?
Gambling problems simply grow if they are unregulated and unmonitored. I’ve never met a problem gambler that intended to have a problem. It grew as a function of their initial gambling patterns. The common theme across problem gamblers tends to be a positive first experience and/or being introduced to gambling in a positive context early on. This is usually winning a memorable amount of money. That’s the most common setup - you’ve associated gambling with a positive outcome and it slowly integrates into your life.
Just imagine If instead of winning in the first few weeks, you lost consecutively for weeks, you’ll probably conclude that this activity isn’t for you. The consensus among researchers point at early career winnings being a key risk factor. It's also likely the reason that people don’t find lottery tickets as addictive as gambling on sports, casino and poker machines.
So, what defines problem gambling?
As your gambling becomes more integrated into your life, your small winnings that you initially experienced as novel and exciting, start to be a little… meh which encourages a riskier and therefore financially problematic amount to stake. For some, it is problematic because the act of gambling also doubles as a coping mechanism for negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, depression or interpersonal conflict. So you’re more likely to find yourself initiating gambling as an activity.
As you become a more experienced gambler, your betting strategy develops, and the drive for that behaviour combines with other higher order brain functions such as problem solving and pattern recognition.
You’re trying to figure out:
Should I vary my bets? Should I increase or decrease it?
Should I change machines or games?
Do I grind it out until the system starts paying out?
Now, this is a key feature of chronic problem gambling. The mindset of having rationalised a “method” of winning money and magically controlling pure chance.
What sets a gambling addiction apart from other digital addictions like porn and gaming?
The core issue of gambling is that your beliefs and mental wiring are at complete odds with reality. I feel that with porn, gaming and even substances you know that if you overdo it things will get worse. You know that more is not the solution but you have difficulty stopping.
Gambling is unique, because problem gamblers believe that more gambling is the solution. And It sounds like this:
“Just one more time, I’ll win it back and I’ll go home”
“I just figured it out, I can multi here and grind it out, then I should be able to win it back”
“Double or nothing, I have to break even, my wife is going to kill me if she finds out”
“I can’t stop now, I’m on a roll”
Source: Aidan Howe, Unsplash
What adds to the complexity is the perseverance, problem solving skills and a grasp of maths that makes it feel almost impossible to “cut your losses”. especially if you’ve been successful in the past. These factors keep the problem going. Once you’ve accumulated some serious debt, gambling can also feel like a shortcut to “redemption” and you try to break even.
Besides the fact that partaking in gambling spikes your dopamine, what makes it unique is that gambling presents itself as both the solution and the cause for problem users because the reward and punishment are both monetary. No porn addict believes that more porn will fix their problem, no alcoholic believes that drinking more will reverse their liver damage. But in a twisted tragic way, chronic gamblers have thoughts that encourage more gambling to “solve” problems caused by the gambling in the first place.
Is gambling recovery uniquely challenging?
Gambling recovery is also unique because in addition to abstaining from gambling, you’ll also have to attack your beliefs about gambling. That is, your system or understanding of why and how you play. You have to proactively let that belief die, beyond just understanding that it’s a game of luck. Deeply acknowledging that your beliefs were incorrect, despite those powerful memories of winning. If you deeply understand gambling as a poker game designer, casino game designer or bookie, perhaps you could let go of your system and your beliefs.
The most difficult belief to also let go, is that there isn’t a shortcut to redemption. It will take time, maybe a long time to recover financially, psychologically and for your relationships to repair. They will slowly and steadily. There is no shortcut. Maybe you would even start to feel contempt and anger toward the games themselves.
The house always wins, but you already know that.
Is there such a thing as responsible gambling?
It’s tough. Gambling is inherently risky, because it puts people at risk of developing a gambling problem or relapsing. Patients that can practice controlled gambling often develop a system of external financial control:
They closely monitor their gambling patterns
Playing in a way where they are not trying to win money
They have a support network
Alternative activities and have
Significant self awareness to recognise when old habits are resurfacing.
All in all, it is essentially playing with fire.
A better question to ask yourself is: Is there something more rewarding, more fulfilling and less damaging that you could spend your money on?