Workaholism: The 'Respectable' Addiction

Workaholism: The 'Respectable' Addiction
By Peter Hill | Published 08/16/2007 | Men Health | Unrated

In Japan, it's called karoshi -- "death by overwork" -- and it's estimated to cause 1,000 deaths per year, nearly 5% of that country's stroke and heart attack deaths in employees under age 60.

In the Netherlands, it's resulted in a new condition known as "leisure illness," estimated to affect 3% of its entire population, according to one study. Workers actually get physically sick on weekends and vacations as they stop working and try, in vain, to relax.

And here in the U.S., workaholism remains what it's always been: the so-called "respectable addiction" that's dangerous as any other and could affect millions of Americans -- whether or not they hold jobs.
"Yes, workaholism is an addiction, an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it's not the same as working hard or putting in long hours," says Bryan Robinson, PhD, one of the nation's leading researchers on the disorder and author of Chained to the Desk and other books on workaholism.

The Difference Between Hard Work and Workaholism

"Hard work put us on the moon and discovered vaccinations and built this country," he tells WebMD. "But hard workers generally have some balance in their lives. They sit at their desks and think about skiing. The workaholic is on the ski slopes thinking about work."

Their obsession with work is all-occupying, which prevents workaholics from maintaining healthy relationships, outside interests, or even take measures to protect their health.

"These are people who may have children, but miss Little League games and school plays when they don't have to, not because they have to be at work but because they feel they need to," says Tuck T. Saul, PhD, a psychotherapist in Columbus, Ohio, who frequently counsels workaholics. "They neglect their health to the point of devastating results and ignore their friends and family. They avoid going on vacation so they don't have to miss work. And even if they do go on vacation, they aren't fully present because their mind is still on work.

"As with any other 'aholism,' there is often a lack of understanding as to how their work addiction affects themselves and others," Tuck tells WebMD. "Often, they only realize their problem when something catastrophic happens to them -- their health completely fails or their marriage or relationships are destroyed."

Addicted to Adrenaline

Such was the case with Cheri, a 52-year-old nurse in California. Several years ago, she realized she was a workaholic and has since attended Workaholics Anonymous (WA) meetings once a week -- which like Alcoholics Anonymous -- has its own 12-step recovery program. Now, she volunteers to help others in the group's Menlo Park headquarters.

"I was wildly successful in my career, a very effective worker and my employers loved me," she tells WebMD. "But outside of work ... well, there was no outside of work. I never thought I had a problem until I tried to get into a close relationship, for something like the fifth time. That was my wake-up call, and it probably helped that my partner was in his own 12-step recovery for another addiction at the time. I took the 20-question quiz at the WA web site and 16 [of them] described me to a T. He was getting better and I realized I had my own addiction -- to adrenaline."

Don't laugh. Workaholics can have a physiologic need for that adrenaline rush, says Robinson, a psychotherapist in Asheville, N.C., and professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

"One thing that we do know is that workaholics tend to seek out jobs that allow them to exercise their addiction," he says. "The workplace itself does not create the addiction any more than the supermarket creates food addiction, but it does enable it. Workaholics tend to seek high-stress jobs to keep the adrenaline rush going."

This is true even if they don't work outside the home.

"We're seeing more women workaholics now because women are more visible in the workplace. But it's my belief that even before this trend, workaholics were doing this in the home," says Robinson. "It could be in their parenting to the point where there is nothing else to balance their lives, no hobbies or fun or spirituality, because they spend all their time as the PTA president, running the youth sports league, and being a Scout leader."

Disorders Often Stem From Childhood

Research shows that the seeds of workaholism are often planted in childhood, resulting in low self-esteem that carries into adulthood.

"Many workaholics are the children of alcoholics or come from some other type of dysfunctional family, and work addiction is an attempt to control a situation that is not controllable," he tells WebMD. "Or they tend to be products of what I call 'looking good families' whose parents tend to be perfectionists and expect unreasonable success from their kids. These children grow up thinking that nothing is ever good enough. Some just throw in the towel, but others say, 'I'm going to show I'm the best in everything so [my] parents approve of me.'"

The problem is, perfection is unattainable, whether you're a kid or a successful professional.

"Anyone who carries a mandate for perfection is susceptible to workaholism because it creates a situation where the person never gets to cross the finish line, because it keeps moving farther out," says Saul.
That is why despite logging in mega hours and sacrificing their health and loved ones for their jobs, workaholics are frequently ineffective employees.

Workaholic Styles

"Overall, workaholics tend to be less effective than other workers because it's difficult for them to be team players, they have trouble delegating or entrusting co-workers, or they take on so much that they aren't as organized as others," says Robinson.

In fact, his research indicates four distinct workaholic "working styles":

• The bulimic workaholic feels the job must be done perfectly or not at all. Bulimic workaholics often can't get started on projects, and then scramble to complete it by deadline, often frantically working to the point of exhaustion -- with sloppy results.

• The relentless workaholic is the adrenaline junkie who often takes on more work than can possibly be done. In an attempt to juggle too many balls, they often work too fast or are too busy for careful, thorough results.

• The attention-deficit workaholic often starts with fury, but fails to finish projects -- often because they lose interest for another project. They often savor the "brainstorming" aspects but get easily bored with the necessary details or follow-through.

• The savoring workaholic is slow, methodical, and overly scrupulous. They often have trouble letting go of projects and don't work well with others. These are often consummate perfectionists, frequently missing deadlines because "it's not perfect."

Getting Help

What can be done? Counseling is often recommended for workaholics, and support groups, such as Workaholics Anonymous, are beneficial, say the experts.
"It really comes down to recognizing a need for balance in your life," says Robinson. "Working hard is great, but you need to be able to turn if off and savor the other parts of your life -- friends, family, hobbies, and fun."

But many companies often confuse workaholics for hard workers, in essence enabling them on their path to self-destruction.

"I wouldn't say that corporations cause workaholism, but I think they truly support it," says Diane Fassel, PhD, president of Newsmeasures, Inc., a Boulder, Colo., business consulting firm, and the author of Working Ourselves to Death.

"Even though workaholism is the addiction de jour in American corporations, I'm not sure that many companies offer employee-assistance programs for it, as they do for alcohol or drug abuse," she tells WebMD. "Instead they often reward it."

Internet Gaming and Chatting Addiction

Dr. Marc Kern
Addiction Expert, Director of Addiction Alternatives
Dr. Marc Kern is the founder of Addiction Alternatives, a California based practice in which he works with a variety of addictions. A proponent of Harm Reduction, Dr. Kern blends his own personal history of alcohol and drug problems and nearly 30 years of experience treating addictions. Today, through his books, "Take Control Now" and "Responsible Drinking", and his speeches to peers and other professionals, Dr. Kern teaches people that addiction is not a life sentence.

What is "computer game addiction"?

We have a new tool in our society that no other society has had and that is a way to change the way we feel via a computer or a game or something mechanical like that. It's never existed in history before and now we have it and these addictions that we're all very free about labelling everything addiction but it's just a new technology that has offered us a way of utilizing a machine to change the way we feel inside to a point where we self entrap ourselves.

What causes "internet gaming addiction"?

The causes are really not clear about internet or gaming addictions because, in part, it is a such a new technology. But I think that we're going to find that it essentially holds the same dynamics that cause many other addictions. The key issue is the social environment such as the availability of the monitor, the screen, the access to the internet, or the little handheld games that you can buy and win. You have conflicts and you feel good at the end of a particular evolution in the little game, and this is what causes gaming addiction. Again, the causes of the gaming addictions are that similar to alcohol they're immediate, and predictable. If I'm bored and I reach for a computer addiction or a little game I know I can change my feeling quickly, efficiently, effectively and predictably, right away. I don't have to wait to go and play basketball. I can change the way I feel and my mood state, immediately, through a machine.

Can an electronic game function like a drug?

Yes, I'm a big believer that a video game, a computer, can act identically as a drug. As our brain imagery technology improves we're going to be able to see that the exact same centers of the brain are lit up for a drug, as a video game, as a computer game. Exact same brain regions.

What type of person is at risk of becoming a gaming addict?

Generally speaking, like all addictions, a lot of the risk involved in becoming a gaming addict lies in the familiarity and the endorsement within the family, for example, if you live in a household where there's few things that make you feel good about yourself. It is very easy to envision yourself finding a toy or mechanical system to lean on, to comfort yourself when you are feeling bad about yourself, lonely or feel you don't have anyone to talk to. Young children particularly become bored easily and we can teach them to turn on the television and instantly alleviate their boredom. A big part of gaming addiction is related to the social climate more than anything else and again the availability of gaming activities. Honestly, if you're good at mechanical things and you have a fascination with mechanical things on the internet, a gaming addict may think why not lean into that, as opposed to leaning into some other sort of activity where you have to go outside to get involved in it when the internet is right inside your house.

When should gaming be considered a behavioral addiction?

From my reading I don't know of any specific criteria, where we as professional would say: this is a video addict today or a gaming addict. But, I do believe parents have an important role to play in supervising kids as well as adults in how much time they spend on video games and on the internet. What the child doesn't know or understand is that they're getting reinforced every minute they sit there with that video game, and if that becomes their only mechanism of feeling good, other adaptive ways of coping with life from having fun don't develop. They just go by the wayside, and in actuality, you could raise a child in a home with lots of video stuff, and never encourage them to go outside and on some level you'd be fostering an addict and fostering a reliance on mechanics rather than people to feel good about yourself.

Who is at risk for electronic game addiction?

It's very difficult to define, especially with the current knowledge available of what it really is. Let's conceptualize a gaming addiction or video addiction as being balanced on five fingers. One of these fingers stands for having friendships, one of these fingers stands for going to school, one of these fingers stands for video playing, one of these fingers stands for having other ways of making yourself feel good such as being on a ball team or something like that. During the course of an addiction you're going to see that when someone is addicted, they're standing on one finger, but that one finger doesn't happen suddenly. Addiction is the eating away or the unwinding of other support mechanisms to keep one healthy and functioning. An addict, generally, has only one finger to stand on to make themselves feel good. So what we're talking about with these kids is to keep an eye on their lifestyle balance, keep an eye on their ability to have a variety of different ways to make themselves feel good, a skill set for a variety of different domains, not a singular domain. It's all about balance and keeping that perspective. Nothing's wrong with videos, nothing's wrong with gaming, nothing's wrong with anything we've really talked about here, it's just the centrality of it, the exclusion of it to everything else, that i'm concerned with and everybody else should be concerned with.

What are the common effects of addictive gaming?

When you're preoccupied with a video game or something like that, well you don't have to go and negotiate with the local bully, or the girls, or whatever. You get all your needs met in this mechanical way, and in a way you're stunted in learning things you would normally learn just by being alive, and going to school, and by being out there. It stifles, because these mechanisms do seem to work efficiently, effectively and predictably and it's reinforcing, so you get an illusion that you have the skills to get out there and make it in the real world, when in actuality, you really have forgone them and you may be out of sync with your contemporaries and they have the skills, and you don't and then you're going to withdraw more into video machines, because you're further behind as the weeks and years go on.

Why are computer games so addictive?

The video games, video game producers and the game developers do a very good job setting the stage for the child, the adolescent or the adult to feel a sense of power, dominance or control you've seen in some of these violent games. You also see a lot of war games that create a fantasy world where they are in a position or an emotional position of power and control, and I'm on top of things and things like that and that's what does it. It's instantaneous, you press a button, there's immediate reinforcement to begin to sort of reseek it and reseek it. It's a very intentional process and its not necessarily evilly intended by these developers, but nonetheless it's partial of things of developing a game that will be popular and people would do over and over again.

Are all electronic gaming addicts male?

In terms of the statistics generally speaking males are more involved with these computer games. Impacts there are some companies that have complained that they are not reaching half the market. But the reality is that most compute addicts happened to be males but not of course every one.

Are all electronic games equally addictive?

Absolutely not. It's very much a science in their development, to bring about the addiction. To bring about the excitement and exhilaration, the sound effects, the movement and things like that. There are games that we could call non-addictive, but they aren't selling, so they're not being developed. It's a funny sort of phenomenon. To develop a very successful game, it's always got to be addictive.

What is the treatment for electronic game addiction?

In general the technology is new, therefore the treatment methodology, the treatment programs are very sparse. There is some internet-0based support, but rarely do you find a formal treatment center that specializes in this or a book that's, I mean while there are books, there's really very little written on it. The treatment, again, has not been all that formally constructed either. But I do believe it would be as much about time management and as much about identifying the beliefs and things like that and fostering the sort of adaption of the adolescent or the adult to develop a more balanced lifestyle rather than focusing all the attention on the gaming itself.

What is a "chat room"?

A chat room is really nothing more then a virtual space that has been specified an owner of a website, where people can communicate in a private way, sort of like I.M. where there is not a long delay or lag time between the exchange of communication. There are icons in a chat room, which means there are images you can put on of yourself, not necessarily photos but representations of yourself.

What is addictive about "chatting"?

Well, what becomes addictive about chatting is what becomes addictive about other things. There is a potential for arousal, feeling good, and sharing a naughty concept; it all has to do with the ability to sort of change how we feel inside. It's just another mechanism to change the way we feel. It's a product of modern technology, and it is a way of people from very different parts of the world can exchange knowledge and information. They never would have run across one another before; it's a very safe way, and it's sort of addicting, because it's sort of a fun feeling to exchange this information. Never in the course of man's history have we had this ability to exchange knowledge, and to talk about things in a real time way. The old days we used to send letters, and that used to take months. Now it's instantaneous, the exchange, and therefore the scope of the discussion, could be monumentally larger.

Why are chat rooms dangerous?

In of themselves there's nothing necessarily dangerous about chat rooms. Yes, young girls could get involved in a chat room and start interacting with someone who misrepresents themselves as perhaps younger or misrepresents himself in some other ways, and the danger lies in the out of chat room activity more than the in the chat room activity--the requests, the seduction, the predator preying on the naiveté of the other member and encouraging involvement outside of that chat room.

Gambling Addiction

Dr. Marc Kern
Addiction Expert, Director of Addiction Alternatives
Dr. Marc Kern is the founder of Addiction Alternatives, a California based practice in which he works with a variety of addictions. A proponent of Harm Reduction, Dr. Kern blends his own personal history of alcohol and drug problems and nearly 30 years of experience treating addictions. Today, through his books, "Take Control Now" and "Responsible Drinking", and his speeches to peers and other professionals, Dr. Kern teaches people that addiction is not a life sentence.

How big of a problem is gambling addiction?

Gambling addiction takes many forms. It is a very broad addiction, if you'd like to call it that, because it manifests itself in so many ways. Gambling could be everything from the very overt: you go into Las Vegas or Reno or whatever, spending your money. But it's also the stock markets. It's also back of the schoolyard. It's any place where there's sort of a game of sorts being played, or the Internet, or business, are all sort of forms of gambling. It's pervasive. And, our society, and all these lotteries, is sort of endorsing that idea of, "Splash! Win the lottery! Invest your money in this direction." So gambling is very broad, and it's not as specific as, generally, we think of it.

Is playing the stock market as addictive as betting on horses?

Some gambling occurs at the local liquor store or Seven-Eleven, like the little scratches. Have you ever seen anybody standing at the counter, scribbling off? For a few fleeting moments there's excitement, exhilaration, hope, and optimism. It's not that far from somebody who is investing high numbers on a risky investment, or someone who is in Las Vegas, or someone sitting at a poker table every Saturday night. There's that physiological excitement and optimism and hope that draws the individual into it over and over and over again. Some people have a stronger leaning; some people have had some substantial positive experiences, and they go back because it feels good; because there's hope and there's optimism versus going home to maybe an empty household where's there's no love or no warm feelings.

What is the difference between a pathological gambler and a problem gambler?

Pathological versus problem gambler is a matter of degree. I think we all involve ourselves in some sort of gambling, whether it's the lottery, the Super Bowl, or betting in the office. But, it is exactly what the words imply. Does someone spend too much time preoccupied with a gambling activity versus a pathological or excessive amount of time involved with gambling activity? All these behaviors that we call an addiction really do exist in virtually all of us, but only to a certain degree.

What is the "end point" in gambling behavioral addiction?

The end point in gambling behavioral addiction is when the individual is unable to discontinue despite his best attempts, and that's usually due to some of the things we talked about. But also, I feel like we should mention that as someone gets further involved in any of these activities, there are biological, neuro-chemical changes going on in their brain. I.e. what is a feeling? That is nothing more than an electrical charge of a neuro transmitter. It's important to understand that when we ask people to stop, it's partly difficult because our chemistry set upstairs has been reoriented, and this causes the gambling behavioral addiction.

What causes addictive gambling?

There is no one hundred percent consensus on what causes it, but we can draw some very powerful generalities here that seem to go across everybody's idea of what addictive gambling is. Of course, there's probably a propensity for the individual to be impulsive and to like to receive rather quick feedback and rewards system. When you go into a casino or sit in front of a slot machine and you get reinforced, then you're going to start anticipating money coming your way. Now, there are several types of learning. One type of learning is if you went into a casino or something and you won every single time and then all of a sudden you stopped winning and you kept on losing you would walk away from that slot machine because you would say well I was winning then and I'm not winning now, there's no reason to continue or to hope for a turn of events. There's another sort of learning where every time you went to the slot machines and you put in coins and you never won, well chances are you won't become addicted. What happens over time and the casinos are very, very aware of it's called variable reinforcement. This is just another form of learning where they purposely make the slot machines pay out a certain percentage of the time. So you don't know how often, when that next pay off is going to come. The more they can teach you or you can learn that you cannot predict the pattern of when you're going to when to win or know when to pull out and take your money the better for them. So you're going to stay there and stay on until some point when you have to leave because you've been taught if you just hang in there that slot machine that card game will eventually pay off. That's a form of learning people who have come to become gamblers have become hooked by this variable reinforcement principle where they don't know when the next win is going to come yet they're anticipating it, they're salivating waiting for the reward.

When addicted gamblers are losing, do they actually believe they'll win?

It's my belief that they really do believe they're going to win and they continue to go to the tables in hopes that they will win because there's no longer any background for them to fall back on. There's no way of backing away from the table because they've undermined their pocketbook sometimes before. But also they believe they're going to win because its been taught to them that if you play the slots long enough, if you play the tables long enough, if you play the video game long enough it's eventually going to happen. It's not like everytime they went there they won or everytime they went to the table they lost. They've been taught week over weeks over months, you stay with it long enough you will eventually win. It's the nature of what the casinos have designed in the exchange and the re-enforcement.

Why is alcohol abuse often linked to compulsive gambling?

Alcohol abuse and gambling seem to go hand in hand. There are a variety of theories and models of why that happens to be. Of course there is again that personality propensity; I want to feel good, alcohol works efficiently, effectively, predictably every single time. Gambling seems also to be more of what I call to be a high arousal form of addiction like sort of amusement parks or other things. Gambling stimulates us, it gets us excited. And what is alcohol? Alcohol is sort of a sedative, so alcohol sort of helps us fine tune ourselves at the gambling table. It also, in Las Vegas, helps the casinos and interferes with judgment. But in my understanding it's mostly about this balancing act that the individual is trying to accomplish.

Is there a drug that can stop compulsive gambling?

There is nothing in the United States anyway that was designed specifically for gambling. There is no drug out on the market specifically for gambling. There are a number of drugs particularly Naltrexone, in the two forms of it, that seems to have a positive effect of decreasing gambling. It basically works in two different ways. One is, if you, you have less craving towards the involvement in the gambling activity, and two, should you gambling, you're going to get less reinforcement. It seems to dampen the reinforcement. We are not substituting opium or another alternative way of feeling good about themselves with a pathological gambling what we're trying to do is to mitigate neurological imbalances that has evolved as function of a constant repetition of a behavior such as gambling.

Who develops a behavioral addiction to gambling?

People seem to gravitate toward gambling primarily, at least as I would understand it, because of more sociological forces than any other. If you're someone who comes from a family where money is tight, or the community does not support gambling, well, chances are you're not gonna lean in that direction. If, on the other hand, maybe you come from as Asian community, or some society that endorses and looks up to a gambler, chances are you're going to find gambling as a potential addictive behavior versus another addictive behavior where that behavior is not as easily endorsed. The selection of the addiction of choice is a very, very interesting topic. And I believe that beyond the social and the exposure, you know, let's, again, let's say mom or dad had a poker game out in the living room every Saturday. Well, there's a greater likelihood you're going to try that one versus another one. But then there's also what I call the "high arousal addictions" and the "low arousal addictions." "High arousal addictions" are like gambling. And most of the behavioral ones are "high arousal." In other words, the addiction itself does not give me necessarily a feeling of calm like you might expect, but rather exhilaration and fun and optimism. And some people, from birth, seem to lean toward liking that sensation of high adrenalin, high stimulation more than others.

Does exposure to a potentially addictive behavior make you immune to its effects?

In general I would say that a child's early social environment has a powerful potential of fostering addiction, and in particular, a particular type of addiction. However, I'm not 100% sure if it's an exact portal. For example, just because your father worked at the track doesn't mean you're going to have a horse racing addiction. In fact, you might look at horse racing more normally than someone who comes off the street and just pays a few bucks to get into the track. It's not quite that simple, it's more about the exposure; did Dad, Mum, Uncle, or Aunt show you in some way that this thing was ok to get overly involved with, or on the other side did your models show that moderation on these things was the right thing. I even support the idea that societies and cultures that support moderation for example, in alcohol, probably have less alcoholism than societies that support abstinence or excess. It's a social-psychological force that influences the individual.

Is behavioral addiction a way of thinking, or a symptom of depression?

Addiction is both and more. I think addiction is both an expression of certain beliefs, attitudes, and values that you grow up with. I also see addiction as a means of mitigating certain emptinesses that we have inside; loneliness, and boredom's a big one in addictions to video games and sex addictions, and things like that. There are few healthy ways of satiating, working with those addictions. So yes, it's both a filler-upper, and a form of ways of looking at things. Very important though, is was there a big expositive experience early on with that particular addiction? Is there an inner sensation of competence, of being powerful in the early involvement with that particular activity?

Will compulsive gamblers eventually turn to crime?

Crime, in all the addictions we're talking about and in particular in gambling, is definitely an end point. It is definitely the default, the bottom line when all else fails and you've dug yourself a deep hole financially and there's no other option. That doesn't mean that there aren't certain people who grow up in environments where crime is more rampant, where it goes the other direction. But most people do not turn to crime to support their habit. But at some point, when you've dug yourself a deep enough hole and it looks really hard to get out, you're going to do whatever it takes to remedy it. People say they don't understand why they do this. It doesn't make any sense. They've lost all this money. That doesn't make sense. What they're implying is they're talking to the individual from the thinking standpoint. But what's happening is now no longer up here. It's down here in the heart. They're trying to make themselves feel good. It has nothing to do with the logic of thinking morally. It's not a thinking process at that point. It's all about more of an basic animal need to feel okay again.

Are there different types of problem gamblers?

Yes there are very much different types of gamblers and differerent ways of manifesting the gambling behavior. As we spoke about, the stock market, scratching something or the lotto, but the experience of what it brings to a true gambler or a true addict is fundamentally the same. It is a sense of optimism and power and avoiding uncomfortable feelings and distracting them from perhaps loneliness or something like that . Are you a corporate tycoon or somebody in a poker chair? It may look different but inside it's somewhat the same in terms of problem gambling.
Do I need to worry about my teenager's gambling?
Absolutely you have to worry about your teenager's gambling. Absolutely! Our society is endorsing gambling like nobody's business. Every state has a new lottery system. Everybody is trying to finance their latest highway project with another form of gambling. We are passing on to our youth, through the media, that it's okay to go out for the quick fix, the instant win. The mechanics of our high tech world support this whole concept. Google something and you can have what you want and it very much is being filtered down to our youth. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle it, because no one is educating people about gambling and there's even a sort of quiet denial by our society that we're even doing these things to our youth. So yes, I would be worried about your teenager's gambling.

What are the signs of compulsive gambling?

When a full-blown compulsive gambling addiction is present, it's pretty obvious. Outsiders can see that there's a preoccupation with the attainment of money to go play a particular game, fantasizing about the outcome, a lack of other normative behaviors or a discounting of other normal behaviors. It's more important to see the subtler pre-addiction symptoms developing in the individual, the potential gambling addict. It's a gradual increase, a little bit more here, a little bit more there. Spending all their leisure time involved in gambling activities, or spending more time associating with people who involve themselves in the same activities. Once the gambling addiction is present in an individual, it's almost too obvious. You can't miss it.

What does "normative" mean with regard to behavioral addiction?

Normative behavior means just what sort of behavior we think of as 'what everyone around the block here or around where you live, does.' Every community has a different normative behaviors and of course if you live with a normative community where drinking or gambling or spending is normative, there is a greater likelihood that you will engage in it.

What should I do if I see signs of gambling addiction in myself?

The first thing if you see signs of gambling addiction in yourself is not to deny it. Don't just pretend that the addiction not there. You don't have to run to a therapist today. You don't have to go to a GA meeting for your addiction tomorrow. You don't have to go on medication next week. But if it's happening, watch it. If you want to curb it, you're in good shape if you own it and you see it. If anything, track your gambling problem if you start seeing it in yourself. Make a little chart for yourself. How often do you think about gambling, how much money are you spending on it. And watch objectively without moral condemnation. Is it going up? Is it stable? Or is it going down? If you see it continuing over the course of years and continuing to escalate then we're in a different ball park.

What kind of help is available for gambling addicts?

There's not a lot out there for gamblers. There are surprisingly few treatment centers in the United States that specialize in gambling. There are very few professionals, such as myself, who specialize in gambling and to be fully honest my experience with gamblers, even personally, hasn't been so hot. Gamblers are notoriously difficult clients to treat. They tend to be often impulsive, tend to have little patience and the addiction often has a hold on them. Of course there's Gambler's Anonymous, GA, but beyond that there are virtually no self-help support groupsI'd like to recommend Smart Recovery for those of you who'd like to try a cognative approach to gambling, It doesn't specialize, per se in gambling, but the tools are the same for gambling as for alcohol and drug and will be welcome in a Smart Recovery meeting.

Can gambling addiction be cured?

We have to define what a cure for a gambling addiction is. Can an addicted individual evolve to a place where gambling no longer has the emotional tie, the compulsive and obsessive attraction. Absolutely, without a doubt, it happens all the time. People are able to self-cure. But the reality is that we never really are cured from alcoholism or gambling, because what we have with all these, is something learned. For example, no one is born with a gambling addition, they practiced and then they practiced some more and over the course of time the person has built neurological pathways in their brain that were not there when they were born. So, over the years, these pathways get stronger and stronger and now they've decided not to gamble anymore. Does that mean that that neurological circuitry that they've self-developed goes away? No, it's like a freeway that's always going to be there. We can develop ways from getting from point A to point B anew. We can develop a new freeway to make ourselves feel good. We can develop ways to avoid going down that old path called gambling, but can we ever eliminate it? I don't think so.

Who becomes addicted to online gambling?

What we have now is modern technology bringing about an availability of reinforcement, a feeling good, a reward instantaneously. It's seductive. Let's say you have an hour to burn and you are bored. You could log on and gamble. It's like having the slot machines at the airport where you're trying to kill an hour and you start playing and you start winning. Gambling is now inside the home. It's now inside your private space. No one knows about it. No one sees it. And you can sort of get seduced and sort of say, “Well, this is sort of fun, and it keeps my mind occupied. It feels good, and why not?”