Who is most likely to have a gambling problem? Extreme gambling is recognised as a disorder by the World Health Organization.
Most people can enjoy placing an occasional bet, even if it means they lose some money. But some become problem gamblers, where the activity disrupts or compromises their lives and those of their families.
Gambling, alongside the use of substances like drugs and richman joker alcohol and even activities like shopping, can become an addiction when its use becomes compulsive and spirals out of control.
These addictions stem from two separate reward pathways in the brain that affect our behaviour - liking and wanting.
Liking describes the spontaneous delight of eating a chocolate biscuit. Wanting is our desire to have one when we see a packet of chocolate biscuits in the supermarket.
Wanting something motivates us - it makes us desire things and do them repeatedly.
In essence, addiction can be simply viewed as rewiring of these reward systems.