Gambling as One of the Addictions

Gambling, and the harm that can arise from the expenditure of time and money on gambling, has been included amongst the addictive behaviours for several decades (Marlatt, 1979). The absence of a psychoactive agent did not give rise to any serious challenge to its inclusion amongst the addictive behaviours (although anecdotally it was associated with sceptical enquiries such as, “Can I become addicted to gardening?”). The contemporary issue has moved on to question where the boundary should be placed with regard to activities such as exercise, shopping and most recently, Internet usage (Griffiths, 1999a).

Psychological models of the addictions are unlikely to provide the basis for some clear dividing line or “addictive” category because core explanatory themes such as self-control, learning and individual differences are all conceptualised as dimensions of essentially normal human functioning. Orford (2001) gives three strong pragmatic, rather than theoretical, reasons for limiting the category of excessive or addictive behaviours to six behaviours; alcohol, eating, straight sex, tobacco, hard drugs and gambling because:

1. They are the best documented examples.

2. They involve behaviours typically enjoyed by most people without encountering problems but which as addictions cause enormous human distress and suffering.

3. The “danger of trivialising the debate about addiction if the concept is extended too far” (p. 5).

This is not to say that other apparently addictive behaviours should not be considered.