Is it...

Hi Phil

I guess it depends on how broad a definition of illness you want to have.

I tend to think gambling isn't an illness, as I understand an illness to be. Gambling is a learned behaviour in response to the individual experiencing difficult emotions and thoughts, mostly emotions.

Everyone has these difficult thoughts and feelings. But healthier people have a different relationship with these difficult emotions, and don't run from them.

Running away from difficult emotions is a very human response. From early evolution we are designed to be on the constant look out for threats. Nowadays we generally don't have the same physical threat, however, we find threats from within ourselves - these threats are in the form of difficult feelings, and produce the same fight of flight instinct. So I tend to think of avoidance (ie gambling) as quite inherent in us.

The problem with just cutting out gambling and not addressing anything else, is that the same impulse to avoid/escape tends to still be there and be acted on. But the behaviour is not gambling but something else - sometimes we can even completely represss an emotion, which leads to all manor of problems.

I think so, it certainly leads to very irrational behaviour. But the onus is still on the CG to do what it takes to get better.

Addiction being an illness gives no license to the addict to use.

Hope all manageable with you.

CW

It's not an illness. The illness you were feeling was the result of gambling not gambling as an illness in itself. It's an addiction. A fault in self-control. An illness suggests it is not within the individual's control and I struggle with that type of definition.

I would say it is an illness. Healthy mind vs unhealthy mind. Addiction is an illness because the mind is not compensating for and learning from the destructive effects of gambling.

We know addiction is unhealthy so why are some of you scared of saying ill? ill can mean the mind just wont snap into thinking properly and realistically. A month in a darkened room eating beans on toast is not the result of anything healthy. Thats putting it mildly as it totally destroys and even ends lives

Yes its neurons creating a path of learned behaviour. Part of it for me was I needed three bonus bars to light up so those damned things are programmed with the help of psychologists on the gambling industry side. Mind control, escape and self destruction = self harm = illness

I understand a lot of the psychology behind it and the actual power of the mind to control the body and create destructive actions.

However I think a lot of people here are scared by the term mental illness. Is gambling all your money away healthy behaviour?....No....then it must be unhealthy or ill behavior. Addiction is an illness of the mind.. Its taken control of your mind making you ill.

Its deep within us..we love the feeling of expectation in love and life. We like chemical rushes including dopamine.Its all we are really...electrical and chemical connectors in the brain

Humans have been gambling since somebody played hide the rock. I am a compulsive gambler on machines so I have eradicated them and all gambling from my life.

The other factor is that an illness like depression can cause gambling. I have always had some sort of disorder that makes me shy away from life and seek quick hits or fixes. One illness can lead to another in the mind and thats a crucial point.

I do not believe gambling is an illness & think to a large extent people use that to excuse behaviour.

Thanks for the responses. I think it is a sort of mental illness or becomes one? It certainly made me extremely anxious and I'm not making any excuses.

I'm suprised Gamcare haven't come in yet with the classification for this but Gambling addiction is classified as an Addiction provided members meet the criteria. Not saying gambling is an illness for everyone but it can be as they progress.

Yes...I see it as a mental illness.

It can never be cured but can be arrrested....I know that is the GA approach but I am happy with it and it works for me. Nothing else did so I'll stick with it gladly.

Thanks so much for the responses. I am curious about lots of things to do with recovery. For example, I have never been to a GA meeting but I know quite a lot about the 12 steps from friends. I feel I am incorporating SOME of the GA philosophy into my recovery - amends, self-awareness etc. I do not believe in the higher power but that's fine for other people. I genuinely feel that you can say "I am never going to gamble again ever" but how realistic is that one hour, one day etc? Time, perspective, what ever works for you is great. Listen to people who know the score and have realistic expectations. One day at a time - my philosophy. Phil (loving being gamble free - one day at time)

JD - I'm quite persuaded by your arguments. Although I'm still not sure that being unhealthy is the same as being ill, although they often are.

Couple other randoms.

Most will agree that gambling is a symptom of something else. A runny nose is symptomatic of a cold but of course we wouldn't say that a runny nose is an illness, we would say the cold is the illness. In the same way, gambling is the tip of the iceberg perhaps but not THE illness (if it is an illness). This begs the questions - what is THE illness (or root cause?) This has always been something that fascinates me and seems to me the key to recovery. To me it's the elephant in the Gamcare Forum which in my mind should be the main topic on here but is far from it.

Also, spending all your time on computer games, watching endless TV, stuffing your face with sugary food, spending all your time on Gamcare ; ) I don't think anyone who indulges in these could be considered ill (or if they are then most people are mentally ill). Yet these are all in the same ball park as gambling -they're less destructive, but it's a sliding scale and where's the bright line when it becomes an illness?

Still think it comes down to our inability to deal with strong emotions and thoughts. Particularly when there's "the gap" - between where we want to be and where we are. When we have difficult internal experiences (stress, boredom, fear, shame etc) some will take a relatively minor undestructive dose of escape, others such as CGs need a full on anhilation dosage.

Addicts need a stronger dose to medicate, so maybe I've come round to the illness side ; )