The Hidden Crisis of Gambling Addiction and Its Impact on Brain Health and Society

Hello, and I'm your host, Dr. Valda Crowder, also known as Dr. V, Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician committed to empowering you with life-saving health information. Please make sure to subscribe to my channel, comment, or follow me on all social media and YouTube. We also have a podcast, What the Health Is Happening, where you can actually catch any of these episodes. And we're going to talk about something that is really hidden in plain sight. And I've been wanting to actually do this show for a while. And with everything that's going on in the news, it's just made it more and more important to do this show. So I'm going to talk about the crisis of gambling, and specifically gambling disorder, which is the same as gambling addiction. So I may use those terms as we're talking about this over the next uh 30 minutes. I want to cover the science, uh, the warning signs, and and we'll also dig into a deeply disturbing national story. You know, we now are seeing um allegations of insider trading, uh placing bets on political decisions, uh, wars, presidential announcements. Uh we recently had a U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant charged with um gambling on classified information and supposedly winning $400,000 on poly market uh related to an operation, a U.S. military operation that he was a part of. Um and again, this is uh he was charged with this. He's innocent until proven guilty. Uh but we're seeing these stories sort of crop up all over the place in the news. And what I wanted to actually really talk about is this really, you know, the framework of the discussion in the news is a criminal justice story, insider trading story, securities and exchange commission, but this is also a public health problem. Gambling disorder or gambling addiction is recognized as a mental health condition classified in the DSM 5 as a behavioral addiction. It is not a moral failure, it is not a lack of willpower, it is a disease of the brain. And the same dopamine pathways that hijack for cocaine and opioids also hijack for gambling. So when someone wins, the brain floods with dopamine and they chase that feeling over and over and over again. So there's all types of gambling, and um, you know, there's casino gambling, slots, tables, poker, sports betting, which is really one of the fastest growing forms of legalized betting. And then there's all sorts of things on your phone, online gambling, gambling, uh, gambling apps. There's also, you know, your your local lottery, uh, scratch tickets, um, day trading, crypto speculation. A lot of people have fantasy, sports teams, etc. So, how do you really know the difference between, you know, what is just recreational having fun versus actually having a gambling disorder or gambling addiction? So I want to really talk about that first. There's many, many screening tools that will actually help sort of distinguish uh between the two, but I want to actually go over one of the simplest screening tools. And so what's great about this screening tool is it actually only has two questions. And the questions are it's called the lie bet questionnaire. And so the questions are one, have you ever had to lie to people that are important to you about how much you actually gambled? And the second question is, have you ever felt the need to bet more and more money? So if you answer yes to any either of those questions, that actually suggests that there is a certainly higher likelihood that we you could be dealing with a problem or an issue and you need to get further assessment. Uh so gambling, you know, gambling disorder really exists on a spectrum, but there are very key diagnostic signs that we often see. So one is there's a preoccupation with gambling. Uh, there's a need to bet more and more and more to get the same thrill. Obviously, there's a failure to stop or difficulty stopping. A key component is lying to loved ones. So whether or not you're lying to your parents or you're lying to uh your significant other or or wife or children. And there's also a sort of kind of chasing of losses and continuing despite very devastating consequences. And and what we'll often see sometimes when um gambling addiction gets very, very, very severe is you will see uh financial ruin, uh, people actually gambling through their retirement savings. Uh you may see broken relationships, divorces, uh children not speaking to parents anymore, you can get uh job loss, legal trouble, um, and you can even see suicide. So what is the science behind gambling and gambling addiction? And I want to kind of go over this a little bit because it really leans on one particular neurotransmitter, which is dopamine. And dopamine is the main chemical signal in your body for reward and motivation. And what happens is gambling actually amplifies dopamine release. Um, and this particular reward pathway is amplified deep in your brain and it connects centers in your brain with higher and higher amounts of dopamine. So gambling is kind of unique in that it's the uncertainty that actually itself triggers the dopamine. So a lot of people think people who are addicted to gambling are addicted because they're winning, or they're addicted because they lost and they're trying to actually recoup their losses, and that's actually that's actually not actually what happens. Gambling is unique in that it's the unpredictability of it. Whether or not you win or loss, it's the anticipation and the unpredictability of it that actually leads to this overwhelming uh dopamine release. And then over time, you wind up in a scenario where your brain perpetually gets activated with dopamine, and you may find that other things that used to bring you enjoyment do not bring you enjoyment. Um, and so when I talk about dopamine release, I want people to realize this is the same thing that happens with cocaine, amphetamines, methamphetamines, except for cocaine, amphetamines, and methamphetamines directly flood your brain with dopamine. Gambling actually increases dopamine in your in your brain, and it's the anticipation of gambling that actually does this, not the actual gambling. So your system is really, really sort of working, uh working over time. Now, what happens with folks that are uh have a gambling disorder, and in some cases it goes on for years, uh, in some cases it goes on for decades, I think it's really important to understand that over time, gambling disorder or gambling addiction thins the gray matter of your brain. And then what happens is it does this in the areas of your brain that are responsible for decision making and impulse control. So some studies have found that over time with gambling addiction, gamblers actually have a blunted response to actually winning and begin to have a blunted response to actually losing. So as you can see, this really becomes like a vicious cycle, right? Where you get a dopamine surge associated with the anticipation of gambling, and then you have a blunted reaction whether or not you win or lose. So that's kind of the neuroscience behind uh gambling, and that's how coming we'll see people who really risk a lot in their lives uh for um for these surges of dopamine. So, what does this look like for us in the United States? So approximately 10 million Americans uh meet the criteria of gambling disorder. Sports betting alone has generated 11 billion with a B dollars in revenue uh yearly. Um again, the other thing that happens, um, especially when gamblers uh kind of actually begin to see the consequences, you can actually see um increased suicide rates. Um about in about 80% of gamblers never seek treatment. Um gambling-related bankruptcies cost the United States economy about six billion dollars annually, and you'll find that black and Latino communities are disproportionately targeted with predatory gambling advertising. The thing that is really, really, I think critical is what we're seeing around youth gambling. So I want to remind people that your brain is not fully developed until you are about 25, 26 years old or so. Whereas one in five college students report an actual gambling problem, this can actually come on very quickly and be very difficult to treat because you are dealing with a brain that is still actually developing. About 73% of gamblers also have a struggle with alcohol use, and about 38% of gamblers struggle with drug use. All right, so we're gonna go on to News You Can Use, and I thought today for News You Could Use we would actually focus on some of these stories that we're actually seeing in uh in our news about gambling. So we're seeing uh people actually betting on war and alleged insider trading on political prediction markets. So there's a growing wave of investigative reports and congressional scrutiny focusing on this disturbing pattern. And basically it's individuals or may it may or may not include uh individuals, even our elected officials, um, that have access to non-public government information and appear to be placing bets in prediction markets. Some of these prediction markets are poly market, uh CALSHE, and they're seeing that these bets are going in just hours before major presidential announcements or major governmental announcements. And this is occurring whether or not we're talking about Iran, uh, whether or not it's tariffs, uh, whether or not it's international military posture or gas prices. Critics argue that this insider trading dressed up as gambling really exploits a regulatory blind spot in our current system. The United States Commodities Future Trading Commission and multiple congressional committees are now investigating this. But I think we will see all the we we are going to hear a lot about this, and I would not be surprised if we do not actually uh see s uh some significant legislation related to this. All right, John, on line one, we've got uh we've got a question or a comment. Uh yes. Um I have a really good question and a comment. Um Gregory always talked about this. And he always said that the number one addiction in the main thing in the clean with the thing that more people and everything. But if you like it as a change from competition, like the simple competition, and then you begin to say I bet. I bet you I can't. I bet you you can. And then it leads into the simple and you left out bingo too. Oh my gosh, yes, bingo. That's what they do. That's what they did. And but but if they they had these organized A games in cook, and that's when the money started hitting the table from the competition of trash and and the drinking, and then you have this major problem coming out of the community starting from the car cable. It was good for the for the young men, and it was hard for the women. So I just wanted to add that how does it it feel like the competition thing? It's like competition is the leading factor where I saw where it led to gambling a lot of times. So my team is better than yourself. Yeah, and whatever. I can beat you and race it, bet you, and it just leads from there. That's what happened in when I was a child. So I just wanted you to chime in on that. Yeah, so so good good question. So a couple of things is you you merged a couple things. So one is, you know, there are betting problems that start in children and their brains are really not developed, right? So if I say I'm going to bet you as a in a race, and because of that I, you know, win two dollars from your five dollars or ten dollars or whatever it may happen to win happen to be. The question is, what does that do to my brain? Am I the sort of person that gets this dopamine release and then now I want to bet you with everything? I don't know. I think if anybody really thinks back to their childhood, remember there was a kid who wanted to bet on everything? Like, I'll bet you, I'll bet you we'll run to the store, I'll bet you with this, I'll bet you with that. That's when you start to see, and that's when you know that there's an issue, right? There are some children that can say, oh, you know, it's a childhood thing to bet around racing or I don't know, baseball or football or whatever it may happen to be, as far as your team winning or whatever, and and that you don't feel the need to do it again, right? It's when people feel the need to do it over and over and over again, and they can't stop, right? And and it can happen as a child or it can happen as an adult. So when you think about even the people that used to rather they play dice or or play cards at home, my question would be if I was actually seeing them clinically in a clinical setting, do you get any joy from any any other things? Because if your joy is completely focused on dice or gambling or cards, and you don't find joy outside of that, then we may need to we may be dealing with a problem. Whereas Do you do do you remember the prices right? Oh yes, oh yes. And uh what was the other one? Uh uh The Gong Show? Yes, yes, because it was like even in the town I was in talent shows in school when I was in elementary and it was a a prize. It was always a money, a honey pot. Right. And so it was like they started us off when we were in elementary school. Right, right. And and and now there's like the wall, you know. I don't know if you've seen the wall and people are betting, and are you gonna tear up the contract or not tear up the contract? I really do. I think that I mean, I I agree with Dick Gregory. I think we've got to really look at how this is embedded in our communities and in all communities, because this is a way to extract wealth, period. End of story, right? And all it is, it's manipulation of your brain chemicals to get you coming back and coming back and coming back and coming back. And that's gambling. Thank you. Yes, you're welcome. Thank you for the comments. All right. So, you know, I want to actually, I think um thank you, uh thank you, listener, for that uh question. I I want to actually spend a minute here to talk about what are the treatments, because I think people will find this to be um uh kind of interesting, is that, you know, the primary treatment for for gambling addiction is cognitive behavioral therapy. And for some people, um, it also needs to be paired with medication. So I want to talk a little bit about some of the medications that you will actually see that will be used with gambling addiction. So some of the medications are things like naltrexone, which is vivitrol and rivia, or now, which is like a revex, we call it revex. So, so these medications are the same medications that are used for opioid addiction. So this is really, really important. You know, when we have people that are addicted to heroin and fentanyl, it is a very similar mechanism of addiction to gambling. So I think it's really, really important. People are often surprised when I actually tell them that. They think of gambling addiction as something that is kind of minor. You can do it if you want to, um, you know, you can stop if you want to. No, this is actually related to dopamine release in your body, similar to dopamine being flooded in your body when you are on heroin and fentanyl. So I really want to make sure that people really understand that. It is really, really important to make sure that you actually get treatment or get screened for this if you actually think that you have an issue or a problem. I've got a a question that was emailed into me, and this was uh from Derek in Maryland, and he said his brother bet away his retirement, his car, and almost his house. Um he says he can stop whenever he wants to, and he won't really admit that he has a problem. So this is actually a part of the addiction. So a part of the addiction is kind of what we call like a clinical lack of insight. And so um we see it also with alcohol addiction where someone is really kind of in denial, right? And you have to realize that that is actually part of the addiction to be unwilling to actually take a look at this. So it's really important that you actually really approach loved ones with compassion and with facts and really give them specific examples, and you want to stay away from giving them actual like ultimatums. Obviously, for people who are in a marital situation and they've got shared assets, that's a whole different ball of wax. And and they may have ultimatums if they are looking at seeing their own personal retirement or joint funds being decimated. It's really important there is Gamblers Anonymous. Um they have a website which is gamblersanonymous.org. Um the University of Maryland runs a hotline uh which is 1-800 GAMBLER. Um there's also a national gambling addiction hotline, which is 1-844-779-2637, 1-844-779-2637. So it is really important. There are things that can kind of help you, and it's really, really important that we actually um reach out and try to get and try to get help for this. Alrighty, I've got another question that was uh emailed in, and uh this is a mom who says, My 19-year-old son has been gambling on his phone since college started. At what point is this a real problem and what should I do as a parent? I feel like I've kind of lost control because he's no longer in my house. So this is really important because one of the fastest groups of gambling addicts are college students. They're not at home. You can gamble now from your phone. Most people have access to their phone all the time. Uh in college, most college students are somewhere between 17 and 25 years old. Um, so they are at that age where they're where their brain is not fully developed. They have not yet actually made it to 26 years old where where their brain is fully developed. The other thing that is important is one of the main areas to develop uh in your brain is the prefrontal cortex. And the prefrontal cortex is associated with decision making, and that is one of the last parts of your brain to fully develop when you become about 25, 26. Um, so what I would say to the mom is that there are certain red flags. One red flag is that he's lying about it. That is the number one red flag. Other red flags are is he hiding hiding his activity? Are there mood swings that are tied to wins and losses? Often you'll hear gamblers and they'll talk about sort of near misses or near uh near wins. Is he betting his money to live on, right? Um, whether or not it's his money for food, uh, his money for his tuition, his money for his books. There are a lot of schools that have uh campus counseling sessions, um, and they actually have these services because we are. Seeing gambling amongst college students rise dramatically. I think it's I I think it's really, really important when gambling starts early in life. Again, early being before 26-27. It can be very difficult to control. This is not something that you can pray away. This is not something that you can necessarily white knuckle through. Dopamine is a very, very, very powerful chemical in your body. And so I want people to realize that this is something that you need to speak with your physician about, call an 800 hotline about, or get some uh get some help for. This is this is very, very difficult to treat on your on your own. I know when I went to uh Canada and I was in Niagara Falls, uh, we went into a restaurant that was in a casino, and I noticed that in Canada they actually have counselors and a gambling center at the casinos in between the parking garage and before you get into the casino. So if people actually uh are uh struggling with gambling addiction and they feel that they're parked in the garage, they can actually go in and see someone before they actually enter into uh into the casino. So I think you know it is really, really important. You really hadn't need to have a network of support if this is something that you're struggling with. All right, got another question that was sent in from Susie. She said, Dr. V, what is the connection between gambling, addiction, and suicide? I lost a friend last year and I'm still trying to process it all. Uh they seem to have uh a problem with all three. So, yeah, we do see this. So, what happens when you actually have a gambling addiction? Again, you're used to all of this flood of dopamine, right? And then what happens is when you're not gambling, you may realize what you've lost, you may realize what a hole you're in, and there's usually a lot of regret, right? In addition, your brain is used to this overload of dopamine. So now your brain doesn't have a lot of dopamine. And when your brain doesn't have a lot of dopamine in relationship to what it's used to having, then it can actually go into a very bad depression. So you'll find that people will actually have these mood swings associated with gambling. So when they're gambling, they're excited, they're happy, and then later on they're kind of like mopey, depressed, um, and they actually can be actual actually suicidal or homicidal. So I want to remind everyone about the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. This was the Route 91 music festival, and this was where the shooter opened up from the suites of Mandalay Bay Hotel, and he killed 60 people and he injured over 400 people. He was a high-stakes gambler of video poker. So I just want to remind people that gambling and addiction and suicide often do run together. And I think it's really, really important to recognize uh recognize these signs. I want to give out some important resources before we go out of the or go off the air. If you're a veteran and you're having uh a crisis, you there is a veterans uh crisis helpline, which is also 988. That's also the suicide and crisis hotline. You can also uh text home to 7401-741. If you feel like you're having a problem with gambling, gambling disorder, a gambling addiction, or if you have a family member and you don't know what to do about it. They can provide resources for people that do not have the addiction but are dealing with family members. Phone number is 1-800-522-4700, 1-800-522-4700. There's also GAMANON for families, which is G A M slash A-N-O-N.org. Um, and then lastly, there is gamblersanonymous.org. So this is something, family, if you're if you're out there and you're struggling with it, please don't struggle with this by yourself. Please get the help that you need. Again, this is a very, very serious addiction on the order of heroin or fentanyl. So I want to thank you guys for joining me today. We're committed to answering your most pressing health care issues. Feel free to email me or send me a message at infotasdrv.us. I look forward to talking to you next week. The house always wins, and remember your life does not have a price. Make sure if you have feel like you or your family member have a gambling problem that you get the help and support you need. Thank you for joining us today.