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General Medicine

Gambling Disorder (Pathologic Gambling)

Charla B Allen, MEd, MD Reviewed 05/2023
 


BASICS

DESCRIPTION

Gambling is the act of placing something of value at risk in the hopes of gaining something of greater value. The essential feature of gambling disorder is persistent and recurrent m...

DIAGNOSIS

Refer to the DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder (2).​​​​​​ 

HISTORY

  • Preoccupation with gambling and chasing losses are most frequently endorsed criteria.

  • May have distortions in thinking (...

TREATMENT

Psychotherapeutic methods, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) (3) and motivational interviewing are mainstay of treatment. To achieve successful treatment outcomes, patients must ad...

ONGOING CARE

FOLLOW-UP RECOMMENDATIONS

Patients seeking treatment for gambling addiction should be followed routinely to monitor the response to treatment, tolerance to medications, and relapse. 

PATIENT EDUCATION

REFERENCES

1
Poulin  C. Gambling. CMAJ.  2006;175(10):1208. [View Abstract on OvidMedline]
2
American Psychiatric Association. Dia...

CODES

ICD10

  • F63.0 Pathological gambling

  • Z72.6 Gambling and betting

SNOMED

  • 18085000 compulsive gambling (disorder)

  • 105523009 gambling (finding)

CLINICAL PEARLS

  • Several brief screening strategies can be used to identify PG, including the SOGS, the Gamblers Anonymous 20 questions, and the Lie/Bet method.

  • The use of behavioral and CBTs for patien...

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