Online casino addiction: what are its characteristics?

A summary of the symptoms and particularities of online casino addiction.

With the emergence of new virtual environments due to the development of the Internet as a medium, there are also new sources of risk in terms of mental health.

An example of this is the addiction to online casinos.This is the subject of this article.

What do we mean by addiction to online casinos?

The addiction to the online casinos is a form of psychopathology based on the one that the experience towards which dependence is generated is the participation in games of chance offered by Internet pages specialized in these games.and in which one bets with real-world currency units, or some form of currency based on the real economy, which exists beyond that game or the entity that offers it. In other words, in these kinds of games, losing means losing real money.

In reality, this is a form of pathological gambling, what is often referred to as pathological gambling at the popular level; however, the fact that the medium in which the addictive activity occurs is the Internet is very significant, as we shall see.

Symptoms of pathological gambling

Addiction to online gambling is embodied by the symptoms typical of gambling addiction in general. The main ones are the following.

1. Constant thoughts of continuing to gamble

The mind of people addicted to gambling tends to go towards memories or fantasizing about this kind of experiences. Many times, even to the point of thinking about it when other people are talking to them.

This, in turn, This, in turn, causes a feeling of discomfort when they are not playing, as they long for those experiences..

2. Changes in mood and increased irritability

Addictions often generate an unstable emotional state, as well as a greater tendency to be irritable. a greater propensity to be irritable and to react with anger and hostility to the setbacks of everyday life. to day-to-day setbacks.

3. Search for excuses and concealment of information about the activity of gambling.

People who are developing addiction to gambling find themselves in many situations in which they choose to lie in order not to direct the attention of others to their problem of dependence.

4. Seeking to borrow money

Unfortunately, in most cases, those who have developed an addiction to gambling for some time end up suffering serious economic problems when they spend all their money on this activity. in this activity.

And as the desire to continue playing overcomes them, they try by all means to get liquidity, often borrowing money by deception (they will not be able to pay it back) or in some cases even stealing.

5. Poor mental health in general

The wear and tear of addiction causes other psychological problems to ariseThe wear and tear of the addiction leads to other psychological problems such as insomnia, anxiety disorders, or other addictions (it is very common to end up developing two or more addictive disorders).

What are the particularities of pathological gambling in the online environment?

As we have already mentioned, addiction to games of chance in which one can participate through the Internet is a very common disorder. is not in itself an "officially" recognized psychopathology in diagnostic manuals, but a variant of the clinical category of pathological gambling, which is a conceptually well-defined disorder.which is a conceptually well-defined disorder.

However, this does not mean that this version of gambling addiction does not have its own particularities. Below we will review these, focusing on those characteristics associated with greater risk and danger.

1. There are far fewer filters for vulnerable people

The lack of control based on the direct observation of those who gamble makes it not very difficult for people who are especially vulnerable to addictions to participate in gambling.

2. Constant access to gambling increases the potential for harm

Addictions are based on habits and access to contexts that act as "temptation".

In the case of online casino gambling addiction, the simple fact of being in a house with Internet access and a computer is in itself an exposure to this kind of elements.. That is, even at home, many thoughts of self-sabotage can appear and lead the person to relapse in a matter of minutes (if he/she does not know how to manage them).

3. Internet surfing becomes a risk

Because of the very functioning of the Internet and the cookie systems that offer personalized advertising, many people who participate in online gambling are bombarded by these advertisementswhich in turn are not well regulated by law and may use persuasion techniques that exploit the vulnerabilities of addicted people.

4. It is often more difficult to detect

On many occasions, those who suffer addictions end up going to therapy due to family pressure. But in the case of online gambling, the discretion offered by the online environment means that if a low profile is maintained, it is possible to participate in online casino activities without arousing suspicion. until the addiction is well established.

Is it always dangerous to play online casino?

Given what we have seen in the previous lines, it is understandable to feel fear at the mere thought of participating in online gambling games.

However, it is necessary to keep in mind that playing these games does not trigger the appearance of this type of disorders; as is the case withAs with psychopathologies in general, it is a multi-causal phenomenon, so that for a person to develop an addiction to online casinos, several factors must interact with each other. In short, the fact of playing from time to time is a necessary but not sufficient element to suffer the addiction.

But this should not make us forget that it is precisely the intangibility of participation in online gambling that makes us tend to underestimate the harmful potential of this type of addiction and the symptoms through which it expresses itself.

Unlike what happens, for example, with the consumption of stimulant drugs, here there is no very concrete act that we can identify as the basis of dependence (as in the case of psychoactive substances, the taking of a pill or the consumption of a line of cocaine), so for many people, especially the youngest, the irruption into their lives of pathological gambling comes as a surprise.

Are you looking for professional support for addiction problems?

If you are facing a complicated situation related to an addictive disorder such as pathological gambling, please contact us. At CITA Clinics we specialize specifically in the treatment of addictions (with or without substances) at all stages of the recovery process: from detoxification to rehabilitation and the establishment of life habits that reduce the risk of relapse.

We do all this from medicine and psychotherapy, either through therapy sessions of weekly frequency, or from our full assistance service in our residential module designed for admissions, which is fully equipped with wellness and leisure activities, located in a place surrounded by nature in the Barcelona area.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association (APA) (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
• Black, D.; Shaw, M. (2008). Psychiatric Comorbidity Associated With Pathological Gambling. Psychiatric Times, 25(12).
• Gainsbury, S.M. ( ). Online Gambling Addiction: the Relationship Between Internet Gambling and Disordered Gambling. Current Addiction Reports, 2(2): pp. 185 - 193.
• Kauer, J. A.,Malenka R. C. (2007). Synaptic plasticity and addiction. Opinions Nature Neuroscience, 8: pp. 844 - 858.
• Price, A. (2020). Online Gambling in the Midst of COVID-19: A Nexus of Mental Health Concerns, Substance Use and Financial Stress. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 13 : pp. 1 - 18.