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Video: Who develops a behavioral addiction to gambling?
http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/2546/1/Video-Who-develops-a-behavioral-addiction-to-gambling/Page1.html
Marc F. Kern
 
By Marc F. Kern
Published on 04/18/2008
 
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.



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 an 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.