Problem gambling is often associated with increased suicidal ideation and attempts compared to the general population.Early onset of problem gambling may increase lifetime risk of suicide. Both comorbid substance use and comorbid mental disorders increase the risk of suicide in people with problem gambling. A 2010 Australian hospital study found that 17% of suicidal patients admitted to the Alfred Hospitals emergency department were problem gamblers. Mechanisms
Biology
According to the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery, evidence indicates that pathological gambling is an addiction similar to chemical addiction. It has been observed that some pathological gamblers have lower levels of norepinephrine than normal gamblers. According to a study conducted by Alec Roy, formerly at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, norepinephrine is secreted under stress, arousal, or thrill, so pathological gamblers gamble to make up for their under-dosage.Studies have compared pathological gamblers to substance addicts, concluding that addicted gamblers display more physical symptoms during withdrawal.Deficiencies in serotonin might also contribute to compulsive behavior, including a gambling addiction. There are three important points discovered after these antidepressant studies:
Antidepressants can reduce pathological gambling in case when there is an effect on serotonergic reuptake inhibitors and 5-HT1/5-HT2 receptor antagonists. Pathological gambling, as the part of obsessive-compulsive disorder, requires the higher doses of antidepressants as is usually required for depressive disorders.
The University of Maryland Medical Center defines pathological gambling as "being unable to resist impulses to gamble, which can lead to severe personal or social consequences".Most other definitions of problem gambling can usually be simplified to any gambling that causes harm to the gambler or someone else in any way; however, these definitions are usually coupled with descriptions of the type of harm or the use of diagnostic criteria. The DSM-V has since reclassified pathological gambling as "gambling disorder" and has listed the disorder under substance-related and addictive disorders rather than impulse-control disorders. This is due to the symptomatology of the disorder resembling an addiction not dissimilar to that of a substance use disorder.