Gambling

Most people are social gamblers, who gamble for entertainment and typically don’t risk more than they can afford. If they should “chase” their losses to get even, they do so briefly. There is none of the preoccupation, long -term chasing, or progression of the pathological (compulsive) gambler. In referring to gambling, the terms “pathological” and “compulsive” are often used interchangeably. Compulsive is the layman’s term and the one used by Gamblers Anonymous. Pathological is preferred by clinicians and was introduced in 1980 when the American Psychiatric Association first recognized pathological gambling as a bona fide mental disorder and included it in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-lll). Compulsive gambling was thought a misnomer since, in the language of psychiatry, compulsive behavior is involuntary and “ego-dystonic” (external or foreign to the self). Examples of a compulsion would include repetitive hand washing or the irresistible urge to shout an obscenity. Pathological gambling, at least in its early stages, is typically experienced as pleasurable. Pathological gambling has been defined as a progressive disorder characterized by a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling; a preoccupation with gambling and with obtaining money with which to gamble; irrational thinking; and a continuation of the behavior despite adverse consequences.

Rolling the dice on America

Dr. Timothy Fong, associate professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, was interviewed Sept. 12 by KPCC-89.3 FM’s “AirTalk” about pathological gambling as a behavioral addiction akin to alcohol and drug addiction.

Can Returning Items Become an Addiction?

Dr. Timothy Fong, associate professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and director of the Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, was featured Dec. 3 on a National Public Radio “Marketplace” segment about a new aspect of compulsive shopping – people who are consumed with the process of returning items they just bought.

Beware of Online Gambling Risks

The research of Dr. Timothy Fong, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, was featured Nov. 22 in an Omaha World-Herald column about gambling addiction and problem gamblers.

Seeking Help for Gambling Addiction

Dr. Timothy Fong, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, was featured Nov. 1 in a New York Times blog in which he responded to readers questions about gambling addiction.

Ask an Expert about Gambling Addiction

The New York Times blog reported Oct. 22 on a new program developed by the UCLA Gambling Studies Program and the state of California to help treat problem gamblers and their families. Timothy Fong, program co-director and assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute, was quoted and answered readers’ questions about gambling addiction.

Impulsivity Measures May Help Flag Future Pathological Gamblers

Medscape Today ran a Dec. 14 article on Dr. Timothy Fong, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and co-director of the Gambling Studies Program, and his gambling research.

Gambling Addiction in the Spotlight in Philadelphia

Dr. Timothy Fong, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute and co-director of the Gambling Studies Program, was featured in an Oct. 26 article in The Epoch Times newspaper about the problem of gambling addiction in the Asian-American community.

 

Impulse Control Disorders Clinic

An outpatient clinic that provides treatment for pathological gamblers and their families. Services included consultations, diagnostic assessments, pharmacological management, individual psychotherapy and family therapy.