Can people be addicted to gambling the same way they can be addicted to smoking or taking drugs?
Yes. People who are addicted to gambling get an extremely strong and hard to resist urge to gamble. This urge can make them do things they wouldn’t usually do like go without food, lie, steal, or miss work or school. Research indicates that during a gambling session, the brain of someone with a gambling problem will produce endorphins. The brain naturally releases endorphins to sooth pain and they result in a feeling of euphoria, or a “high”. When some one with a gambling problem says they have an urge to gamble or feel like they “need to gamble”, it’s partly related to the physical longing for endorphins.
