Like drug addiction, gambling hooks some

That reluctance is due to "a lot of stigma and misunderstanding of this issue, and it extends to the medical profession as well," says Kevin Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, an advocacy group. "Much of the addiction research actually uses gamblers," he says. "Because there's no 'substance,' in essence you can study pure addiction."

Scans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) show that the brains of cocaine addicts and gamblers — the drug users looking at pictures of cocaine, the gamblers looking at pictures of cards or dice — are similar, both showing activated dopamine and adrenaline pathways, Whyte says. Up to 30 percent of an addict's risk for developing gambling addiction is genetic, and there is an element of crossover between gambling and substance abuse disorders, he says.

As with all addictions, says Ogden psychologist Dennis Ahearn, any time a person does something "in conflict" — if his religion prohibits it, if he's lying — the greater likelihood he'll become addicted. He'll feel bad, then drink or gamble to feel better, which will make him feel bad, and on and on. And, too, the need is for more of the drink or drugs, more money wagered, as his body acclimates to the rush.

For problem gamblers, "the money is simply a way to keep them in action," Whyte says. It is the moment just before winning that is better than winning: the moment before the card is turned, the moment as the cherries and sevens are about to drop into place.

For him, that's all in the past, says the Gambler. He hasn't played blackjack in four years. He also stays away from the stock market. Instead he took up photography. Now he wonders if maybe he got a little addicted to that, too — his obsessive search for the perfect digital camera, the feeling of suspense he feels right after he clicks the shutter and right before he sees the picture, the euphoria when it's good, the disappointment when it isn't, the relief that he can press the button again and again to try to get it right.

At least, he says, he can share his memories through pictures now, "instead of burying the memories in lies."

---

E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com