Psychology › Mental health & disorders › Addiction and substance use disorders
Gambling disorder
Reclassified 2013· Condition or disorder
Well replicatedStrong, repeated evidence.
Persistent, harmful gambling a person cannot control, now classed with drug and alcohol addictions.
See it on the Psychology map →What it says
Signs include needing bigger bets for the same thrill, failed efforts to cut back, lying, borrowing, and 'chasing' losses with more bets. DSM-III listed 'pathological gambling' in 1980 as an impulse-control problem; DSM-5 (2013) renamed it and moved it beside substance addictions, the first behavior placed there. About 1 percent of adults have the disorder, and more have milder problems. Since a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, most US states have legalized sports betting, much of it by phone.
Why it matters
Chasing losses is the same trap that catches traders who double down on losing positions; heavy options and crypto trading can show similar patterns. Suicide risk is elevated.
The evidence
Brain imaging shows gambling cues and near-misses activate reward circuits much like drug cues; some Parkinson's patients given dopamine-boosting drugs develop compulsive gambling.
Open questions
Whether gaming, shopping or social media deserve the same addiction label is unresolved, and the long-term effects of app-based sports betting are still being studied.
Connections (3)
▸Variable reward schedules fuel Gambling disorderWell replicated
The connection
Slot machines pay on a variable-ratio schedule: wins come after an unpredictable number of bets. Skinner showed this produces the fastest, most persistent responding, because any losing streak might end on the next try. Near-misses and small 'wins' that return less than the bet add to the pull.
Who showed it and when
Ferster and Skinner's pigeon studies (1957); applied to modern gambling by researchers such as anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll, who studied Las Vegas slot machines (Addiction by Design, 2012).
The evidence
Lab studies show variable rewards resist extinction, and studies of gamblers show near-misses prolong play and activate reward circuits.
Open questions
Variable rewards pull on almost everyone; why only about 1 percent develop a disorder points to genes, stress and other vulnerabilities.
▸Gambling disorder was the first behavior added to Addiction and substance use disordersWell replicated
The connection
Gambling disorder shares the hallmarks of drug addiction: tolerance (bigger bets), withdrawal-like restlessness, failed attempts to stop, craving and the same reward circuitry. In 2013 DSM-5 moved it from the impulse-control disorders into the addiction chapter, the only behavior placed there.
Who showed it and when
DSM-5 work group, 2013; 'internet gaming disorder' was listed only for further study, while the WHO added gaming disorder to ICD-11 in 2019.
The evidence
Brain imaging, genetic overlap and treatment studies, including some benefit from naltrexone, an opioid-blocking addiction drug, support the grouping.
Open questions
Whether other compulsive behaviors, such as shopping, sex or social media, are true addictions or ordinary habits labeled as illness remains contested.
▸Gambling disorder shares the loss-chasing of Sunk cost fallacyMixed evidence
The connection
'Chasing losses', gambling more to win back what was lost, is a core sign of gambling disorder. It mirrors the sunk cost trap: past losses, which cannot be recovered, drive further bets. In gambling disorder this becomes a cycle that is hard to break. Effective treatment exists, including cognitive behavioral therapy and support groups.
Who showed it and when
Sociologist Henry Lesieur's 1977 book The Chase described the pattern; it is one of nine criteria for gambling disorder in the DSM-5 (2013).
How solid is it?
Chasing is a listed DSM-5 criterion and common among patients; lab studies show people bet more after losses, but a shared mechanism with sunk cost is less tested.
Open questions
Whether loss-chasing in the disorder is an extreme sunk-cost bias or something different, driven by the brain's reward system and the hope of a big win.