Gambling and Pathological Problem

Running Head : PSY 104

Gambling and Pathological Problem

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Gambling and Pathological Problem

I . Introduction

Gambling (Devereux 1968 ) can be generally defined as the voluntary risking of a sum of money called a wager , stake , or bet , on the outcome of a game or other event . The process of gambling involves the conscious , deliberate effort to stake valuables - normally money and to a lesser extent , non-currency items - on how some `event ' happens to turn out . Gambling , as a correlate of psychological analyses suggest two

br things that it is a form of deviant behavior and that it is an extension of normal behavior

Gambling views are relatively different depending on the type of constitutional regulatory system for gambling in the geographical zone Whereas it can be a form of `play ' in legal states (i .e . Nevada , most countries all over the world is non-decisive regarding the matter , and places strict regulations on the excesses of the act . Moreover , there are some geographical zones like the Australia , who experiences an alarming increased in the number of gamblers affecting the socio-economic factors like finance , public health , and psychological problems of the gambling community . The Productivity Commission of Australia (1999 ) estimates that 2 .15 of Australian adults are pathological gamblers and that 5 are problem gamblers . The American Psychiatric Association (APA ) incorporated pathological gambling in their third edition of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diss (DSM-III ) in 1980

The subsequent aims to construct a `theoretical analysis of gambling , the motivations behind it , its ' psychosocial and biological determinants , gender factors , and therapies on the so-called problem Here there is an attempt to explore the gambling as a `psychic masochism ' instead of `psychic play pleasure II . Typology of a Gambler , Gender and Phenomonology of Pathological Gambling

Pathological gambling is a chronic and progressive state that upset the life of the person and those that are close to him (Lorenz and Yaffee 1988 . Bergler , the first psychologist who made the thorough study on pathological gambling said that

I submit that the gambler is not simply a rational , though 'weak person who wants to gain money by means of a short cut , taking the risk of failure and of moral reproach from his environment , but a neurotic with the unconscious wish to lose

The neurosis is typified by the following characteristics - aggressive omnipotence accompanied by masochistically tinged self-punishment (Bergler 1957 , thrill-seekers (Martinez and LaFranchi 1969 non-homogenous or psychometrically different (Moran 1970 , exerts societal influence (Scimmeca 1971 ) and attracted to non-random and non-independent events (Kusyszyn 1978 . There is no standard explanation behind the phenomenon of pathological gambling . Current views on the pathological gambling is that it is impulse control dis , a form of affective dis , obsessive-compulsive spectrum of dis , a non-pharmacological addiction , and non homogenous (Moreyra 2000 . The progression of the career of the compulsive gambler involves discovery of the problem , the motivation to gamble constantly , the role of family distress , loss chasing , excitement and skill in the maintenance of the problem gambling...