Pathological Wagering: The Origin And Negative Effects Of Wagering

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Introduction Through the span of history, wagering is a common action over most cultures. Wagering is defined as betting that involves money or additional components of price when using doubtful occasion, dependent either wholly or in part on chance. Wagering has been applied during history and also continues to prosper worldwide, both legally and illegally, being a worthwhile business and popular entertainment activity (Menioria, 2009). In addition, compulsive wagering can have a wide range of adverse effects on individuals, families and society. The negative consequences include financial and debt problems, marital conflict, criminal behavior, family violence and breakdown, as well as severe emotional and mental health problems (Shek et al., 2012). …show more content…

Most psychoanalysts are trained in medicine and therefore bring that orientation to bear on the origins and treatment of pathological wagering. In keeping with that tradition, biomedical theory conceptualizes pathological wagering as symptomatic of an underlying disease. Theory into practice. A biomedical approach to treatment ordinarily means pharmacological intervention. Crockford and el-Gueblay (1998) report the use of the opioid antagonist naltrexone, which is often used in treating alcoholism, to treat pathological wagering in an adult with co-morbidity of alcoholism. Crockford and el-Gueblay report a decrease in self-reports of cravings followed by a decrease in wagering attendant to the administration of naltrexone. Pursuing the connection between pathological wagering and serotonin, Hollander, Frenkel, DeCaria, Trungold, and Stein (1992) report using clomipramine, serotonin re-uptake blocker commonly used in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hollander et. al found a decrease in wagering for up to 28 weeks, with a brief relapse at week

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