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Healthinmind/Mental Health Disorders/Impulse Control Disorders Unlike the other disorders classified as impulse control disorders, pathological gambling is far from rare. The best current estimate is that 2 to 3% of the citizens of the United States are pathological gamblers. The costs to patients and their families is almost incalculable. A summary of the criteria for diagnosis from DSM-IV includes the following: the person is preoccupied with gambling, needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money to experience the original thrill, has tried to cut back (without success, of course), is restless when not gambling, lies to all concerned about the gambling, has lost a relationship, job, and money, and relies on others to get out of trouble. The typical pathological gambler is affable, self-centered, and often likeable. Most are male, and many have committed illegal acts to support their habits. With the rise in the number of Indian casinos, there may well be an associated increase in the number of pathological gamblers. Individual cures are extremely difficult to come by. Gamblers Anonymous (GA), patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous, offers some hope, and Gam-Anon offers support for families of Pathological Gamblers. Few who only enter GA actually quit gambling, but if they enter GA and go to an inpatient treatment facility, recovery rates approach 50% for those who complete the program. Families of pathological gamblers may have a better chance of adapting to the problems than the gambler has of stopping the creation of the problems. These books may be helpful: Losing Your Shirt : Recovery for Compulsive Gamblers and Their Families by Mary Heineman Compulsive by Jim Nelson Go to the Gam-Anon
web site. Last updated 12/19/03 |
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