THE

WORSE
OF THE
CANCER
ES
The
Gambling addiction
ADDICTION TO THE
GAMES OF
AZAR BUT IT IS
CURABLE
 Gambling Addiction

PATHOLOGICAL ADDICTION TO GAMBLING

2020
 Gambling addiction

PATHOLOGICAL ADDICTION TO GAMBLING

IRRESISTIBLE DESIRE TO PLAY

Autor: Josué Peña Muñoz

2020
 GAMBLING ADDICTION

Mental illness

THE WORST OF CANCERS

BUT IT IS CURABLE
 Who gets healed?
WHO RECOGNIZES BEING A SICK PERSON

AND WISHES TO HEAL

 INTRODUCTION

My readers, whether they are gamblers or not, I am sure they will have many questions.
about GAMBLING ADDICTION.
I sense this book is an instrument
to provide solutions to questions that you dear friends have
they can formulate.
It contains questions that you may possibly ask yourselves.
Here you will find characteristics, causes, consequences, stories,
statistics, solutions to this disease and institutions for treatment
in... Colombia, Peru, Spain, and Ecuador.
 We all have fun in our own way.

But if we exceed in gambling,

we can have an addiction ... GAMBLING ADDICTION.

Gambling addiction

What is gambling addiction?

Laludopathy is an illness and as such it should be treated.
GAMBLING DISORDER=Disease, from Latin: ludus meaning game and pat meaning
affection, ailment, disease.

It is an addictive disease that consists of an uncontrollable impulse for

gambling. This disease is similar to alcoholism, smoking,
addiction to sex, to work, to drugs, to hallucinogens, etc.

TYPES OF ADDICTIONS
There are many addictions that humans fall into, the most
frequent are:
Gambling addiction (the gambler)
Addiction to religion
Workaholism
Sex addiction
Cell phone addiction
Internet addiction
Addiction to television
Shopping Addiction
Addiction to theft
Addiction to lies.

Let's focus on GAMBLING ADDICTION and on the sick victim of this addiction.
THE GAMBLER plays at casinos, game rooms, at friends' houses,
your own home, at any time, anywhere, on the internet, any
day. That is, whenever, wherever. Without limits of time and money.

Bet on whatever may be: horse races, cockfights, fights of

dogs, lottery draws, bingos, contests, competitions of any kind
nature, to football championships, etc. That is, to everything that involves a
possibility of winning by chance.

It is a chronic, progressive, and recurrent mental disorder, included by the

World Health Organization, since 1994, in the classification
international diseases such as brain impulse disorder
nervous.

The disease is localized in the individual's brain. It is considered a

disorder of brain impulse control.
 In the brain of the gambler lies the disease.

The player doesn't stop playing, each time they increase the amount of the bets,
the desire to play is intense, visits to gaming places are more
frequent, loses track of time. In their brain is the idea that
the more time I spend and money I invest in betting, the more money
will win.

Compulsive gambling is a disease, it's like a...

drugs. They produce negative addiction and start with innocent invitations to
to play in casinos or with groups of friends.
A game of chance aims to win some money or have fun, but
as attendance becomes more consistent, the desire to play increases and
Whether we lose or win, it doesn't matter.

Many people have lost everything: money, businesses, stocks,

["vehicles","housing","buildings","family","home","work","social relationships"]
capital loss due to his dependence on gambling.

Licensed Vanessa Pérez Montemayor, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist,

argue the following:

Both the game and the players are not something exclusive to our time.
they are as ancient as humanity. The game for pleasure, leisure, and profit
Economics is present in most ancient cultures.

Playing is essential for a person's development.

During childhood, humans learn the rules of behavior and
he does it by playing, while social skills are acquired during
adolescence and childhood.
The game allows to test skills and provides
satisfaction facilitates the development and application of life strategies
Playing is fun, relaxing, and can be therapeutic; it's not bad.
when one can freely do so and resume usual activities.

The situation becomes complicated when chance intervenes in the game and is anticipated.
receiving an award. Here the pleasure is not obtained from the game itself, nor from the
relationship that is formed with others, nor to prove the ability, but to
to achieve a material good without making any effort.

In pathological gambling or gambling addiction, the activity is directed at controlling the laws.
of chance, it is recurrent and progressively causes a decline in the
life and the person's environment.

The pathological game. Although playing in general is something normal, when it

It constitutes addiction and becomes a disease. Many people have
having lost everything, money, family, work, relationships. For these
sick, playing is an obsession that can be seen as a loss of control
from the impulses.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,

what the American Psychiatric Association publishes, the pathological gambler or gambling
pathological is an maladaptive, persistent playful behavior,
recurrent, which alters the continuity of personal, family or
individual's professional.

There are multiple factors behind the onset of this disease and it
consider that its causes are probably multidimensional, the result
from environmental, behavioral, cognitive, and biological interactions.

Different studies mention that gambling addiction seems to be associated with other
psychiatric disorders, such as mood disorders, anxiety,
personality disorders, impulsivity, dependence, and drug abuse
alcohol.

The pathological game represents a significant therapeutic challenge.

treatment must take into account medical, psychological, and social aspects.
A high number of pathological players manage not to play again but
There is another large number of gamblers who are not treated and do not enter into
rehabilitation.

Like other addictions, gambling addiction starts slowly and with the
awareness that the situation is controlled as the person wishes it to be
propose. The addict has problems with himself and with his environment. The challenge
the game fills him with adrenaline and the need to play surpasses any
expectation. He risks everything for the pleasure of the game. It's not about winning.
if you really play; therefore winning is not the goal; the more you
play more need to keep playing, whether you win or lose.

The ludopath is capable of managing their own emotions and through the
game releases them so they don't cause him tension. The people with this
sickness tends to lie to its relatives, friends, doctors, minimizing
his situation as a pathological gambler.
Marital problems, debts, depression, anxiety, and even attempts
Suicide can be a consequence of what gambling addiction provokes. Cause
an emptiness in people cannot be filled with what is held, it cannot be filled with the
family relationships. Therefore, it seeks to fill itself with something more, the game.

Disorders associated with gambling addiction:

Anxiety, Apathy
Personality disorders
• Depresión,Impulsividad
Drug or medication dependence
Alcohol abuse
Irritability
Lower asthma
Emotional tension
Lack of concentration
Insomnia, headaches, poor digestion.
Considero haya logrado un concepto claro sobre esta enfermedad,
suffered by many and known by few.

CAUSES OF GAMBLING ADDICTION

What are the causes that produce this disease?

They are of a character: genetic, social, psychological, educational, cultural.
environmental, behavioral, cognitive, and biological interactions.
In the interaction of the following variables lies the origin of the
gambling addict
family history with gambling issues.
The concept that playing can be viewed positively by the family,
it can predispose one to suffer from this disorder.
Mood disorders, such asdepression.
Personality disorders in which problems appear
impulse control as is the case with Borderline Disorder
Personality (TLP).
Substance use or gambling at a young age. Yes
We imagine that a compulsive gambler is very likely to come to mind.
someone playing with a cup in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Some personality traits such as the search for sensations,
competitiveness or tendency towards boredom may predispose to the
gambling addict
Thestressful situations they can maintain and worsen the
game problems, since at first it works
reducing theanxiety.
Solitude, or isolation.
Induction by friends.
The curiosity.
Need for fun.

CONSEQUENCES
The consequences of this disorder are observed in the personal area of
individual, when they start to feel very bad about all the money
wasted, debts accumulate progressively, the beginnings of
work problems.
Friendships that were relied upon to achieve are fading away.
money that can no longer be returned, commit thefts, robberies,
forgery of checks or other criminal behaviors that do nothing but
complicate their already delicate situation and carry legal consequences that
it also has direct consequences in their family, social and
labor
What are the consequences of Pathological Gambling or Gamblin Addiction?

The consequences are the following:

Psychopathological: In the personal sphere, the gambler presents sadness.
anxiety, depression, irritability. Develops a depressive process (more
more frequent in women than in men) their levels of nervousness, tension and
Aggressiveness is high, having thoughts of uselessness and guilt.
occasionally have headaches, stomach discomfort and
difficulties in falling asleep.
Relatives: In the family and couple environment, there begins to exist a
family neglect, lack of communication, disturbances in sexuality,
etc. At the level of the closest relatives, siblings, parents, spouses and
children, there is a great tension created.
Labor and Academic: In the labor or academic situation, it decreases your
performance at work, demotivation, unjustified absences, what can
promote the abandonment of work or studies, etc. At work they can
dismiss, for arriving late or for committing thefts. The children of players
pathological individuals suffer the consequences of lack of affection, there are continuous fights
at home, being the target of their parents' irritability. In the future
they will be people likely to have problems in school or
institute and develop addictive behaviors.
When the child is a pathological gambler, the parents don't know what to do and
they cover the son's debts in exchange for promises that he won't return
to happen.

Social: In the social environment, there is neglect of friendships, a decrease

of leisure activities, loss of social relationships.
Substance use: In some cases, use and abuse of tobacco, alcohol,
cocaine among other psychoactive substances.
Legal: In relationships with justiceoften problems due to
motives of scams, thefts and other criminal activities. There is also
penal consequences, if crimes are committed, as a means to
to obtain money.
Economic: In the economic realm, there are debts and money problems.
related to the game.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GAMBLER

What are the characteristics of a compulsive gambler?

difficulty in resisting, irritability when losing.

frequent thoughts about the game,
use of play as a mechanism of escape.
He loses his job and even sets aside his personal commitments.
He is capable of committing crimes in order to get money with which
will continue playing.
You can spend a lot of time thinking about how to make money or how
to be able to recover what has already been lost.
He/she constantly lies about the time spent playing.
Feels excitement when talking about play.
Presents a lot of stress. Anxiety, nervousness.
He/She suffers from high-grade depression.

SYMPTOMS OF A GAMBLER

These are the ten symptoms:

- You can't stop: besides the money, the addicted player is unable to
stop wasting your time. It is not about choosing between one and the other way
not of leisure, but of being unable to get up from the table, whether virtual or real. If
If you have doubts, challenge yourself and set a limit, which can be
a specific hour or an amount of money. If you cannot fulfill your
own proposals, bad sign.
- 2. You play with money you can't afford to lose. Another key to
the healthy game is to bet only the money you plan to spend on that
leisure activity. If you start to worry because of a hypothetical
loss would cause you problems, you are on the wrong path. The extreme case is
playing with borrowed money or breaking your child's piggy bank.
- You don’t enjoy gambling. Thinking about spending a few euros on it.
the game should be just like doing it in the cinema, at a concert, or in
collecting objects. If the game is an escape from your miserable life or
to other problems, if your behavior is compulsive and not for leisure, so too
you should recap.
- You keep playing to recover what was lost. It's one of the worst
options that exist, although it is very easy to fall into this mistake. Why
Do you think your luck is going to change? The easiest thing is to fall into it, as they say.
poker players, and starting to make increasingly significant mistakes
that will almost certainly increase your losses even more. One of the
Signs of a great player are knowing how to rise to the occasion of a game.
that we do not
It is advisable.
- 5. Each
time you play
more
money. It is not
the case of the
players
rational
(also the
there are), those who

after
overcome a
level during
in the past they move on to the next, always with a respectful control of
bank.

Croupiers checking the cards before the arrival of the players

- You do anything to get money for the game. There is no

It takes a very clever person to know that this is an extreme symptom. Beyond
moral and criminal considerations, to steal, to deceive and to resort to any
the kind of crimes to end up gambling your money is not just a
stupidity, but rather you will enter a path of very difficult return.
 - You prioritize the game over other important things. Self-deception can
achieve mastery in some cases, but if you miss the school function
or even your daughter's wedding for doing something that is open 24 hours.
It is clear that you have a serious problem. Worse still is to gamble on the
woman, for although it seems like an exaggerationwe have seen it does not do
a lot.
- 8. The game affects your character. You can gain very experiences.
pleasant with the game, even without the need to win. A teacher of
mathematics taught me at a young age not to trust too much in
someone who doesn't play anything (tennis, chess, Scrabble... whatever)
sea). Knowing how to enjoy it improves you inside and out and teaches you to
connecting with others, but if you see that you are becoming a worse person (the
others will notice much sooner), you should recognize this symptom
as soon as possible and take measures.

- 9. The denial. The biggest difficulty in distinguishing this signal is that a

No addict will deny that they are one, just as the innocent will not either.
recognizes the crime he has not committed. In any case, he is almost never told.
to someone who is a gambler when they are far from becoming one. Like
It is often said with alcohol, if you ever wonder if you are drinking.
too much, it is probably because you are doing it.
- 10. Suicidal tendencies, lack of attachment to life. It is perhaps the last
step and is usually accompanied by heavy debts, so that no one
it should go this far. Gambling addiction may seem less serious
that alcoholism or drug dependence, but it is the most related to
the attempts to take one's own life.

LOOK AT THESE IMAGES OF PLAYERS

Do you identify with any of them?
Have you been in any of these situations?
Naturally, your response is just for you, but if you feel it's okay, you can
comment on it with someone who believes they are in the same situation and is a person in the
which confa.

The gambler tries to recover losses in the game with new bets.
Those who suffer from this disease often lie to their family members to hide it.
how much money they spend on the game and are even able to ask for help
financial support to third parties to continue betting.

ANTIQUIDITY OF GAMBLING ADDICTION

Both the game and the players are not something exclusive to our time.
are as ancient as humanity. There is archaeological evidence of games
that already existed in antiquity; some paintings represent what today
they would be the dice. In our days, there still persists a game whose own
nature reveals its archaic origin, I am referring to the game of 'la taba', in the
that the bone of some animals is used, the astragalus in particular, as
a 4-sided die to cast lots.
The game for pleasure, leisure, or monetary object is present in the majority of
the ancient cultures. Greeks and Romans, among others, had various types
of gambling as entertainment and also challenge games.

Playing is not bad, it is even necessary. During childhood, we learn the

most basic rules of behavior, and we do it through play. The
social skills are learned mainly through play during adolescence
and childhood. But play is not only useful for this, it also serves a purpose
positive.

When we play as adults, the game allows us to test some of

our skills and provides us with quite a bit of satisfaction if we overcome
innocent challenges; it also facilitates the development and application of strategies
tools for everyday life; it allows us to spend pleasant moments with our
family and friends. Playing is fun, it is relaxing and can be
therapeutic.

On the other hand, playing is not bad if it brings a moment of relaxation.

opportunely we can stop doing it freely and resume our
usual activities with the memory of the good time we spent.
Playing or stopping does not influence the normal development of our lives.

The situation becomes complicated when chance intervenes in the game, when it
we become passive agents regarding the game. Our
paper is limited to waiting to receive a prize. In games of chance, pleasure does not
is obtained from the game itself, nor from the relationship we establish with our
companions, nor to prove how skilled we are, but to achieve a
good material without putting in effort on our part. Here what excites,
what raises our tension is the slight wait that exists between the bet and the
potential prize acquisition.
Throughout history, many famous figures have struggled with addiction to
game. I will highlight among them Fedor Dostoevsky because besides being an addict
to the game, he managed to reflect this problem in a novel he wrote in order to
pay off some gambling debts, "The Player," in which it reflects the situation of
a pathological gambler of the time.

INCREDIBLE STORIES IN THE WORLD OF BETTING

Many search for luck in games of chance.
In these stories, some lost and others won.
millions of sums of money.

STORY TOLD BY A COLOMBIAN GAMBLER

DIOMEDES HERNÁNDEZ
A gambling addict. Player of CASINO RIO, HOLLYWOOD and ROCK
AND JAZZ.
It was the first time that Diomedes
Hernández went back on his word. He had
lost a casino ten million that no
they were theirs, he was already over seventy
millions in debts and could not find
solution to your problem. That July 28 of
2012, at four in the morning, made
a rope in the car and watched the void with the desire to jump.
some reason he cannot explain, just as he cannot explain all the gifts
what life has given him in his 41 years, Diomedes arrived home late, like
It has been habitual. For the past eight years, he has been in charge of customer service.
in one of the most recognized bars in Bogotá.

Lucía stunned, was without being.

-First, do you have ten million pesos that you can lend me? -he asked.
by cellphone upon waking the next day.
It's a joke, right?
No.
Well, I barely know who you are.
Since my dad died fifteen years ago, we haven't seen each other.

I don ’t have that money and I can ’t lend it to you.

Diomedes got furious. What did he think? That he was going to let him down? He
first he had a company and had to be good with finances. He could not
to believe, in the midst of his distress, that he would not lend him the money.

Later, she went to the bar where she works and walked everywhere looking for.
help. When night fell, he gave up. He decided not to insist anymore. He wanted
rest, return home.

Oh, since it's payday and you arrived early, said his wife, pleasantly.
surprised—, why don't we go eat something and then go out to do
market, which is already diminishing?

—No, no, no... I am very tired—he hurried to respond. He remembered.

that his account was at zero. He had not only bet the ten million.
what he had in mind, a figure that his boss had entrusted him to deliver
at a company location as payment to employees, there had also been
played the two million three hundred thousand that they pay him bi-weekly.

When his wife had already given up on going out, Juan José, her five-year-old boy
years, the youngest of his three children began to cough. He kept coughing and coughing. It was
necessary to take him to a doctor.

Give me money to take the child to the doctor,

I don't have cash.
Then give me the card.
I don't have the card.
Diomedes' wife cried, she imagined what had happened.
You went back to the casino, right?
Diomedes could no longer keep lying. Not entirely. He told him that he
I had spent the pay for the fortnight, but I hadn't lost the money from the
company. Although at that moment he could not tell everything to his lady,
he made the decision to talk to the company's accountant. He called her and
dijo toda la verdad. La contadora escuchó anonadada.

She and all the staff offered to lend him the money for what happened.
it will not reach the superiors. He did not accept. "I did the only sane thing I have
hecho en estos ocho años de adicto: les dije que no me dieran un peso,
it was my duty to talk to the manager.

Remember today Diomedes, who on that July 28 and on many others

game nights, I hoped something would have helped him to react, to
to take a break that would prevent him from going bankrupt. He did not find
nothing that stopped him, but according to a district decree, it should have.
found.
Without time and without money
It is not necessary to help him with questions for him to remember. Diomedes
easily reconstruct the puzzle of your story. When he talks about
the people he has involved in his problems, he mentions them with
name and surname. Knows who he owes, since when and how much. Waits
pay off each of your debts and thus regain the credibility of your word.
Eight years ago, he entered a casino for the first time. He was the owner of a
There was an English bar near Bulevar Niza and he ran out of change. He thought that in
the casino in front could help him. He had never entered one. At
he arrived, looked around, and felt calm. That night he didn't play because the
the boy at the counter quickly changed the bill. Three days later
he returned to bet. And he continued attending. Goal on the machines between two.
one thousand and ten thousand.

At Casino Río, on Avenue 19 with 122, the dealers are overflowing.

kindness in their smiles. The young ladies take care with attention to their makeup and
the boys maintain elegant postures. The player is
they offer drinks and food at no cost. Diomedes got to know that casino at
change jobs, just when he started working for the company of the
what is a member currently. There, the amounts wagered increased from
level and in Diomedes' mind the calculations began: "I have played seven
Sometimes, I have invested four hundred thousand, I have recovered one hundred forty thousand,
the casino owes me two hundred sixty thousand.” He was filled with rage towards the house,
but the option was not to stop. He had to play more to recover.

In casinos there are no clocks, one lives in a parallel world. Three million
It is summarized in three small and colorful cards. Diomedes sits.
uncomfortable having two hundred thousand in my pocket, not because of the amount, but because of
the density of the bills. I exchanged thick for simple to feel that
I had more. In the Rock and Jazz of 82 it was easy, because inside there is
Servi-banking ATMs. In some casinos that did not have ATMs, the security guard
I accompanied him to withdraw money.

Today in the three casinos I used to visit, there are ATMs for
withdraw money. It can also be withdrawn at casino cashiers, whether it is
with debit cards (savings or checking) and credit.
After losing so much, Diomedes thought about withdrawing from the bets, but in
Two lucky strikes in a row won a total of twelve million pesos.
Even though he felt that with those triumphs he had settled his debts.
pending with the house, did not stop. Kept playing uncontrollably for
years. He knew roulette. In it, it only took two minutes to lose.
two hundred thousand. He became a scientist: he analyzed the speed at which it
he threw the ball, comparing it to the speed of the cylinder. Despite its
technique, she almost always made a profit. That's why she needed liquidity at all times.
moment.

I had my ears wide open to know who was saving money.

She heard that her domestic worker had savings to buy a house.
Since he was the boss, the lady accepted to lend them without any problem. From the
in the same way, his bosses advanced him the vacation pay for
three years. All his friends, without any idea of the aims, did it to him
loans. And when friends couldn't, strangers would lend to him at 7% or
at 8% interest. Deceiving to play was his specialty. Those who did not
would become her enemy. If his wife made any complaint, he
he told her that as long as he maintained the house, she had no right to
to complain.

The war that Diomedes waged with fate began to turn into
a war against the world. He became an irritable and anxious man. For
his wife, that was an addiction. But on July 28 of this year, she and he
They understood that it was much more. Diomedes reached his limit that night.
I was sick and needed help.

Did you pay the ten million pesos? asked the manager.
company.
No. I bet them in a casino and lost them,
The manager asked for the details and Diomedes told him his story of
eight years of play.
We are going to pay for your treatment and you will continue working with us.

Diomedes could not believe what he was hearing. Then he understood that his
honest work for many years had earned him the affection of his
boss and all of his colleagues.

That's how two months ago, Diomedes and his family arrived at the
Colombian Foundation for Pathological Gambling, a non-profit entity.
profit that cares about the treatment and prevention of gambling addiction.

In the EPS they didn't find any type of help. 'This is for everyone.'
it's a vice, not an illness,” affirms Diomedes. María del Socorro
Suárez Bejarano, representative of the Secretary of Government, asserts that
Adults are fully aware of their decisions: "To the
casinos can only admit adults, the gambling addiction does not apply to them
establishments, but for those with skills and abilities.” It refers to the
video game businesses that teenagers can enter from
14 years.

For Robinson Montoya, psychologist at the Colombian Gaming Foundation

Pathological and current treatment of Diomedes, the ludopath is a 'disorder'
mental and behavioral that causes loss of control over the
game frequency, the amount of money and time invested. Therefore, the
pathological gambling is recognized by the World Health Organization. According to it,
In Colombia, there is not even research on gambling addiction.
an approximate idea that 2.5% of Colombians are gamblers,
but believes that the figure is much larger.

As part of the treatment, Diomedes must go to the casinos to observe.

As soon as he arrives, the dealers approach him and invite him to play by offering him
promotions. This situation has not only been experienced by Diomedes, but several others.
Montoya's patients, to whom they also send emails.
and they call them back to bet again. It is also common in casinos.
to reach college students. They ask that their gift vouchers be changed that they
they have been delivered to their universities. According to Diomedes, "in the
casinos attract all kinds of people: elderly, businessmen, criminals." He
feel like one more component amidst so much diversity.
Is he cured? Robinson asks him.
No, definitely not.
Diomedestene fear. Fear of trusting, of saying: 'I'm only going to bet'
five thousand, that doesn't happen at all. Wait for the casinos to become the
what motorcycles and weapons have been for him: objects that generate fear and
respect for the harm they can cause.

He is scared, but he is determined to do things right. So much that

after thinking about it, he wanted his full name and his face
appear in this story. Wants everything that has been shame
for him and his family to become, upon recovery, a source of pride.

Wants to help prevent. Wants to stay alive: 'A nephew of my wife is

drug addict, died, it is sad to say, but he died and the problem ended.
If I die, I take with me the lives of my children and my wife, to the
people who lent me, those who took the savings from their home and gave it to me
the money to me.

Diomedes says he wants to be a normal person again. That is the big

bet of his life.

MIGUEL V.
He is a chronic gambler. On three occasions he has tried to distance himself from the
bets, but his addiction has been stronger than his will.
By: HÉCTOR CAÑÓN HURTADO, EDITOR OF EL TIEMPO
This 39-year-old executive from Bogotá plays in casinos from Monday to Friday.
Once she leaves her job at an advertising agency, she looks for a session.
of roulette or poker that does not end before 2 in the morning.

Sometimes he leaves for his lonely house with hundreds of thousands of pesos that,
Likewise, he will bet again the next day. On other occasions, the
most of the time, the balance is a red that ignites their eyes when
check the next day, without the euphoria of game night, your accounts.
I only sleep four hours, but I prefer to arrive home late rather than
thinking about the debts I have,” explains this addict who, for the fourth time,
he/she tries to seek help from others to heal from his/her ailment.

In his previous attempts to escape from the gambling addiction, Miguel V. submitted himself.
to the treatments of rehabilitation centers, but upon returning to their
the world has fallen back into the betting fever. Now it wants to attend the
therapies of the Orientamos Foundation, a non-profit organization
which follows the Alcoholics Anonymous model to try to cure
gamblers. Impulse disorder What is a gambler? It is a
chronic, progressive, and recurrent mental illness, included by the
World Health Organization, since 1994, in the classification
international diseases such as an impulse control disorder.

"That's how I felt for decades, like a mentally ill person who had no..."
"control of their actions," says Edgar V., a connoisseur of the high circles and
the underground betting pools that Orientamos, a group, decided to organize
of 'anonymous gamblers', to help others who, like him, experienced the same.
same for more than a decade, they cannot escape the power
absorbing of the casinos.

Pathological gambling is a disorder that can be defined as a failure

chronic and progressive in resisting the urges to gamble, which
they dominate the life of the patient to the detriment of values and obligations
social, labor and family," explains Edgar V. in a written document with which
promotes its proposal.

People who have risked or lost come to the Orientamos Foundation.

their jobs, accumulated debts or abandoned their families. "Also
sick individuals appear with suicidal symptoms or crimes," comments Ruben A.
another one of the participants in the sessions. To participate it is necessary
acknowledge that one suffers from compulsive gambling, have intentions to heal and
maintain the anonymity of the group.

The Colombian Pathological Gaming Foundation is another of the organizations

that offers therapies to heal gambling addiction. Although it is also
a non-profit institution, the outpatient treatment of two
Months cost 2,000,000 pesos. The gamblers have psychiatric counseling.
psychological and legal.

This organization, which has cured hundreds of gambling addicts,

it has been functioning for 4 years and is recognized amidst the fervor of the casinos and
the bets.

I need help. The scene of seeing Miguel V. cry while asking them.
help other 'anonymous gamblers' who attend one of the meetings
from the group, is shocking. The addict, despite being functional and having
kept his job, has stories to tell and wants to escape from the
casinos that took away a family, two houses, and several cars.

Her story shakes other addicts. 'This is an old evil. In the

Player Fedor Dostoevsky is already the anguish of those of us
we got sick from betting,
dream: one more night in which several anonymous bettors gather to
exchange experiences to move away from their wrongdoing.

My name is ALFONSO C.
I LOST MORE THAN I HAD IN MY BETS and I am in the group of
We guide from the first sessions.
A couple of months ago, I met other gaming addicts who wanted to distance themselves.
of his illness.

To be honest, I don't know if I can achieve my goal. I've only been at it for a couple of
weeks without betting and I already feel that at any moment I will return to
to fall. I've tried everything. I've been to psychiatrists, doctors, witches and
to the Club el Cóndor, in the center of Bogotá.

They make low bets there, of 500 pesos. I used to take 20,000 with me and I...
he would stay up to three days in a row playing poker, but to lose less
Silver one is not cured of the illness. I kept sleeping poorly, I was having sweats.
coldness and anxiety of staying in the game.
This is my last bet. I've already lost more than I had.
HARRY KAKAVAS
ANOTHER STORY OF A GAMBLER IN AUSTRALIA

The gambler who tries to recover what he lost

Until a few years ago, Harry Kakavas was one of the most successful businessmen.
successful people from Australia. He built his fortune selling houses, but he was
a compulsive gambler. In just 14 months, he squandered nearly $3 billion
of pesos in the casino of Melbourne.

[Link] that now he is trying to recover all the lost money

with a lawsuit filed against the casino where
Kakavas squandered all his money.

The former businessman argues before a court that the center of

entertainment knew that he was a pathological gambler, and yet, he
provoked to keep playing knowing about his illness.

So far, your complaints have been unsuccessful, but the lawyer

he continues to argue that Kakavas was diagnosed with a serious condition that
It prevented making rational decisions when betting.

AASHISH NANAK
Eight-year-old boy won an extraordinary sum of 500,000.
dollars
playing poker.

Although it is a story that has not been proven, it raises doubts.

a lot about its veracity, it circulates in many places on the internet
information about Aashish Nanak, an eight-year-old boy who won
$500,000 playing poker.

According [Link] man made use of one’s bank details

from their relatives to play online poker. The people who started it
knowing he was called 'the little magician of poker' but his activity began
to raise suspicions for being asked to put his age on everything
the forms.
They are of a character: genetic, social, psychological, educational, cultural.
environmental, behavioral, cognitive, and biological interactions.
In the interaction of the following variables lies the origin of the
gambling addict
family history with gambling issues.
The concept that playing can be viewed positively by the family,
it can predispose one to suffer from this disorder.
Mood disorders, such asdepression.
Personality disorders in which problems appear
impulse control as is the case with Borderline Disorder
Personality (TLP).
Substance use or gambling at a young age. Yes
We imagine that a compulsive gambler is very likely to come to mind.
someone playing with a cup in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Some personality traits such as the search for sensations,
competitiveness or tendency towards boredom may predispose to the
gambling addict
Thestressful situations they can maintain and worsen the
game problems, since at first it works
reducing theanxiety
Solitude, or isolation.
Induction by friends.
The curiosity.
Need for fun.

CONSEQUENCES
The consequences of this disorder are observed in the personal area of
individual, when they start to feel very bad about all the money
wasted, debts accumulate progressively, the beginnings of
work problems.
Friendships that were relied upon to achieve are fading away.
money that can no longer be returned, commit thefts, robberies,
forgery of checks or other criminal behaviors that do nothing but
complicate their already delicate situation and carry legal consequences that
TERRY WATANABE
In Las Vegas, United States
Lost 233 billion in a casino

Terry Watanabe is one of the biggest losers in history at the

Vegas. In 2007, he had a streak of bad luck –bad luck in
reality - since he lost more than 230 billion betting on the
machines.

Watanabe's gambling addiction contributed 5.6 percent of the revenue of

casino where he wasted his money.

FREDERICH W. SMITH
Saved Fedex by playing Poker

In 1971, Frederich W. Smith, founder of the courier company

FedEx took his personal fortune and gambled it as the company was not doing well.
your best moment.

Fedex, by that time had a capital close to ten

millions of dollars, money that was not enough to fill
fuel for airplanes.
Frederick decided to take what little money he had left and instead of leaving to
house, flew to Las Vegas and played Black Jack for a weekend. To
The following Monday, the company had $65 million in its account.
banking. This was enough to cover the fuel for the planes and
to continue operating for a few more days.

Some time later, Smith managed to raise $22 billion to maintain the
company afloat. Today, the company is valued at 80 trillion dollars.

JESSICA AGBUNAG
Las Vegas United States
On his first trip to Las Vegas, he won 5 million dollars.
24-year-old Jéssica Agbunag in 2008 imagined everything, except that in her
first night in a slot machine in California at a casino,
will become a millionaire.

The [Link] said that she had won twice in that same
small amounts week. Some time later and with few dollars, we
He won the jackpot $32 thousand dollars.

ERICK LINDGREN
tell your story
The player gives an interview to Bluff where he speaks openly about
his problems with gambling.

I have had a problem with the game for a long time and, finally,
I have the opportunity to face it. Lindgren
fighting against their ghosts.
A sus 36 años, Lindgren ha estado internado
for two weeks at the Morningside clinic
Recovery in California following a
treatment that has been funded by a
Friend, as explained in the article. By the
information that has circulated, that friend
tene muchas papeletas de ser Daniel
Negreanu. It was his wife,Erica Schoenberg,
who convinced him that he really needed
professional help.
Lindgren's problems are related to gambling.
giant losses in the 2011 football season
American and the cut of its economic supply that meant disaster
ofFull Tilt Pokerheld 2-3% of the shares - assumed the fall in
player's bite.

It sounds a bit like excuses, but Lindgren seems to have taken on his
problem and trying to solve it, although achieving it is going to
having to face it from a very complex perspective; that of
being a professional poker player, understanding that the game is part of your
life, living in Las Vegas and being able to control all of that
variables.

That is the issue. I don't want to leave my profession, I want to be better in it.
I want to have total control over my actions, which means not
bet recklessly, and not bet with other people's money. I want to bet
in the right way and practice my profession in the best way
possible.
Lindgren explains that Haralabos introduced him to a group of greats.
gamblers where huge amounts were wagered.
He took me to a place where there was a line of credit of two million
dollars and we set 500,000 as the limit. I think I won about 300 or 400,000.
in the first week I was betting heavily, between 50,000 and 100,000 on
I started to lose. I think I paid 400,000 once and 500,000.
Another. I was down 900,000. Then I think I lost another 2.3 million.
And that’s when the real problems began for him.

I want to resolve all my debts but it is easy to assume that he will be the
the last person with whom I resolve it. Bob has never been a saint in my eyes.
devotion and vice versa. Having said that, I apologize and acknowledge my
mistake.
Lindgren explains that loans were part of the usual mechanism of
operation among the owners of Full Tilt but that was money from the
company and is detailed in the sales process toPoker StarsThe player
he currently owes the red casino 2.4 million dollars.

Just before the Black Friday explosion, Erik Lindgren and Erica Schoenberg
they found out they were going to be parents. They got married in June 2011 and shortly
after their true financial problems came to light in the
couple. She knew that he had problems but was not aware of the
true dimension of them.

I have been very obsessed with working and getting my finances in order.
to return to the normality I was used to. It has been very
stressful but I think I have managed to do it well considering
everything I have lost.
Now it's Lindgren's turn to reorganize his financial situation and he is going to do it.
in the only way he knows: playing poker. A pretty option
peculiar considering your uncontrolled gambling habits but
it is probably the only thing it knows how to do well. Soon it will move from
new to Las Vegas with his family to rebuild his bankroll at the tables.
Lindgrentene a banker for tournaments that allows him to participate in
any event that I want and now looks for another lender for cash.

PLAYERS GO THROUGH THESE STAGES

Players go through these before becoming pathological.

stages:

social or casual player

The person begins out of curiosity, discovers new places, shares.
a few moments with friends, chat and play for a short time with a little money
he leaves the place.

[Link] player
The place is already known. It provided a space of pleasure, comfort. It allowed
occupy free time. It did not pose a risk because there was control over spending
in betting and leaves the possibility of winning. It does not imply abandoning the
work obligations, nor family ones. A limited time is invested but
visits to the playground are starting to be reiterated.

Excessive player
The frequency and the social relationships that are generated in the place
increases. A new group is created. At this stage is when investment is made.
slower, putting aside the activities that I usually did.
The amount in bets increases and one starts to lie, to hide from the
family is a usual visit. You start to talk even if in low doses of
that gets your adrenaline up.

Gambler
 In the stage, the sense or value of money is lost. The idea of winning is
always present, but if it doesn't win, it doesn't matter. As long as there is still some left or
Money does not retrain, and if you have someone to borrow from, you will continue playing. No.
it is uncommon for the player to report that he went to his house 6 or 7 times to
to seek more money and gamble it. In these cases, that money may no longer be
own. The chaos begins, the family and social problem. The game is
becomes a disorder and can generate legal problems. The pathology
emotional already exists, the game dominates it. The addiction is installed, the
the individual lost their freedom. The person plays obsessively, without
control of their impulses, although with different connotations depending on the
cases.
During these stages is where the patient should be
detected to avoid reaching the gambling addict.

STATISTICS
Particular situation in Colombia

At an official level in our country, there is no research whatsoever on the

GAMBLING ADDICTION. There are private studies conducted by some universities and
organizations and institutions interested in this issue. At the level
particularly those carried out by psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors and
sociologists.

In Colombia, statistics on pathological gambling are scarce and have not been
large-scale studies have been conducted. More is known about the
behavior of betting and gambling; thus,
In the country, 60% of people from the second socioeconomic level, 63% of
three and 56% of those from four carry out these
activities, since it only bets 28% of the
stratum six. 61% of the Colombian population is accustomed to
to allocate part of your monthly income to a game
of luck and chance.

From the male population of the country, 69% are players or gamblers, and from
the female, 54%. Of the total players, most are concentrated among the
34 years and 54 years of age, but the largest proportion of people
they are between 45 and 54 years old. In the country, every hour bets are placed in casinos,
bingo tables and slot machines 74,200.913 pesos, in a manner
legal (8).

The phenomenon of gambling is not concentrated in the capital of the country; in fact, the
the department with the most number of establishments is Antioquia, where there are
756 gambling venues linked to gambling. Followed by Cundinamarca with 665.
(including Bogotá), Valle del Cauca with 357, Santander with 250, Atlántco with
161, and Bolívar with 158.

Despite the wave of gambling in the country, in departments like Amazonas,

In Arauca, Caquetá, Casanare, Guaviare, and San Andrés, there are fewer than five.
legalized aesthetic establishments.

According to the Territorial Health Company (ETESA), only 18% of the

establishments that currently exist in the country, dedicated to gambling and to
luck, needs to be legalized.

Given the increase in the incidence of pathological gambling, many scientists

They have been researching gambling addiction as a disease that can become
to deeply affect the social, work, and family functioning of the
patients, who may even reach suicide.

substance abuse, anxiety disorder and attention deficit disorder

attention and hyperactivity, it has even been thought that it is a
pathology that is within the bipolar spectrum.

Pathological gambling is an underdiagnosed disease and, therefore,

sub-treated on a global scale and more so in Colombia, where it is practically not
explore in patients with risk factors.

There are no conclusive Colombian statistics or studies that manage to show

the size of the problem due to the presence of pathological gambling in the population,
despite being known that our population culturally tends to
develop activities of play that put the economy at risk of the
families and their integrity as a social nucleus.

The pathological gaming has been on the rise since the legalization of
casino gaming began to emerge. Its close relationship with the
organized crime and with violence, as well as its impact on
adolescents, who are more likely to go armed to their place of study and
to develop a substance use disorder, has caught the attention of
government institutions in different parts of the world.

Unfortunately, in our environment, although one can see the rise of

casinos in the cities and despite the fact that there is a wide variety of games
Rooted in their own culture, there are no compelling statistics about
this entity, which has become a 'silent monster' and a
problem in other countries, where adequate attention has been given to this
disease and efforts have been made to identify it, diagnose it and
treat her. Likewise, numerous neuropsychological studies have been conducted,
laboratory and imaging to find its etiology and its association with others
psychiatric entities.

Besides the fact that the game is promoted through media

massive (like television, radio, and internet), virtual casinos, in a way
deceptive, they entice internet users to play with the security of making money
easy, even and in principle for free, which promotes development
of gambling addiction in adults and young people.

In the case of casinos that are located in cities, they are designed
especially to motivate the players who enter there. Without windows,
so that anyone inside doesn't realize the passage of the day or
from the night; without clocks, so that the player loses track of time; with
eye-catching colored decorations, loud bells and alarms that are activated
when someone makes money, and with free alcoholic drinks, that alter
some way the judgment of the players.

They even have ATMs inside and some facilitate the

accommodation and food for a few days for those who bet certain
amounts of money.

The Russian roulette of public health

In a few decades, Colombia changed from parquet, dominoes, games of
cards and dice, for the slots and casinos. Here they play the
family heritages, and thus the luck of a country gambler and
cantnero por tradición, que educa a los hijos embriagando a los padres y
finances health by promoting a serious public health problem: the
gambling addict.

Let’s look at the case in Medellín.

In Medellín, for example, just 20 years ago, casinos barely existed.
Hotel Nutbara only had a few 'gaming fairs' and poker tables.
Flower Festival, then 'tourist casino', and in recent decades,
arcades, casinos, and billiard halls invaded all urban spaces, warehouses,
cafeterías y casonas, los videojuegos son huéspedes obligados de todo hogar,
the well-known nightclub Lotus changed the beautiful notes of Lucho Bermúdez and the
Billo's Caracas Boys by the monotonous singing of bingo!
The warm Piamonte restaurant is now a casino; at the door, a monumental
"poster" with a semi-nude girl, invites: "Great prizes and the
prettiest girls. Don't miss this opportunity! Start your career as
model." National and foreign artists, Spanish and Mexican festivals,
Brazilian women with pasodobles, tequila, and girls... nothing is spared in Las Vegas.
creole.

An addiction that kills

According to international statistics, it is estimated that between 2-3% of the population
can end up having specific problems with gambling,” he specified to
THE PULSE psychiatrist José Mario Gómez, from the Addiction Program
University Hospital of San Vicente Fundación in Medellín.

He continued: 'At one time, gambling addiction was classified separately as a disorder.'
mental of impulse control, but in recent decades it remained
clearly cataloged in the group of addictions that are not necessarily
they have a chemical substance, with a significant comorbidity with abuse and
dependence on tobacco, alcohol, and other substances: more than 90% of the
Gambling addicts are addicted to cigarettes, 60% to alcohol, and about 40% to others.
drugs.

The development of gambling addiction is almost the same as that of alcohol: it starts with
curiosity or group pressure, experimentation continues and then
loses all control, despite being clear that it causes harm. The gambler becomes
incapacitating as the behavioral instability makes it impossible to sustain
a family, a job, there are lies and manipulations, there are heart attacks, death
sudden, stroke, the adrenaline and the vertigo that playing implies,
when chronically triggered, they affect cardiovascular parameters
normal.

It is a potentially deadly chronic illness, so desperate that even

90% of gamblers think about suicide as a solution to their problems
relatives and social, to their debts. Of them, 50% attempts it and between 10-20%
dies for this reason. People have come to the Addiction Program who
they lost $700 million in one night at a casino.

When the person lands in the real world, one of the reasons to choose
due to suicide is that by abandoning other activities, one feels without ground or
sentido en la vida

The psychiatrist pointed out: "The marketing strategies of casinos, betting and
games are based on studies of human behavior, of control of the
conduct, so that the person clouds their conscience and loses control of
his impulses: by not having a clock in the casino, the person does not know how long they have been playing
half an hour or two days, and without windows, he doesn't know if it is day or night, if
Whether it rains or the sun is shining, many places offer free liquor because the more you...
the more impulses are controlled and the harder the bet is placed; they are offered
snacks are free so that one doesn't feel hungry and so the 'sheep' doesn't escape or
the 'pig' of the fold.

They are just like the incentives of raffles for cars, trips, etc. People
They are well-presented men and women who play a game.
of seduction to 'pluck' the customer. Many casinos handle them
electronically, and they program the machines according to the person's profile
addicted to giving out the prizes.

We are told by people who have worked in casinos that they give the prizes to
the same business staff, so that the customer believes that the casino does pay;
they also find out the customers' birthday date and usually
They give away bonuses to play roulette, in order for it to come back. The machines,
letters and decorations attract with natural and sexual motifs, the machine
it has a peculiar attractive sound when giving the award, based on studies of
behavior, and there are patients who have relapsed when they are on the street and hear about
"far from that sound," concluded the professional.
 Size of the gambling 'industry' in Colombia
By 2006, 60% of people from the second socioeconomic group, 63% from the third, and 56% from the
four and 28% of the six were players, and 61% of the Colombian population
he spent part of his monthly income on a game of luck and chance, he said
Doctor Mauricio Bahamón, in the magazine of the Colombian Association of
Psychiatry.

In the accountability report of ETESA 2009, the sales of localized games

legal games represented 71% of games of chance in the first half of the year
luck, the chance 24% and the lotteries 5%. The project approved by Congress
from the Republic, authored by representative Lucero Cortés, for the attention
medical and psychological support for gamblers, considers that in Colombia gambling is a
obsessive-compulsive disorder affecting more than 500,000 Colombians who
They bet about US$375 million, 225 million Colombian pesos.
$52 million in lotteries, $652 million in the rest of the legal games
in illegal games, according to figures from the Colombian Gaming Foundation
Pathological.

According to sources consulted by the Medellín councilor, Luis Bernardo Vélez,

gambling in Colombia generates $4 billion in sales and the amount of
Gambling accounts for almost half of the country's exports: US$ 5,000
millions ($12 trillion Colombian). It is no coincidence that it was held at Corferias
Bogotá, the Andean Gaming Fair in April 2011, whose promoters
They said: 'The gaze of manufacturers and distributors is set on the Region'
Andean and especially in Colombia, due to the geostrategic position of
country, the favorable business climate it is experiencing and the interesting moment of
market.

The gambling addiction is more severe when no one

it is recognized as a public health problem.
The game gives the player the illusion of a prize.
For the State, part of its finances.
For a few, incessant profit.

Between 2007 and 2009, the number of legal gambling establishments decreased.
3.327 to 2.942, the slot machines rose from 64.794 to 68.381 and the bingo chairs
They decreased from 412 to 298; the drop can be explained by the high number of games.
sealed due to illegality, a sign of the growth of pirate gaming. The same
The report indicates that Cundinamarca and Bogotá lead in illegality (20.3%).
followed by Atlántico, Valle, Bolívar, and Antioquia, and between 2003 and 2009 the
Criminal complaints for illegality increased from 776 to 1,475, with the
little machines leaders in piracy. According to the Territorial Health Company
(Etesa), only 18% of the gambling establishments are
Illegal. In Colombia, there are an estimated 70,000 legal slot machines;
the former president of Etesa, Mery Luz Londoño, reported about 14,000 illegals in
2009, however, every calculation is imprecise, as every day some are confiscated and
others appear.

Currently, there are 346 contracts for localized games, each one of
they with multiple sites. The magazine Semana in early 2010 said that from
120 casinos in the Aburrá Valley, only about 20 have their paperwork in order.
another area, as a preventive mechanism, Etesa manages the 'Manual of
prevention of asset laundering and financing of terrorism; a source
the judiciary said to EL PULSO that in the last 14 years only have reached the Court
Supreme Court of Justice of processes for tax evasion, money laundering and
domain extension, and they were raffle entrepreneurs.

The newspaper Portafolio reported that the Spanish group Cirsa, which in 2009 obtained
earnings of 209 million euros worldwide, dominates the cartel of
casinos in Colombia, where the gaming company Unidelca was acquired and operates
with its subsidiary Winner Group, 17 traditional casinos and 53 electronic ones, 250
gaming tables and 6,500 machines.

The Ministry of Social Protection still does not recognize gambling addiction as
public health problem and a reflection of this is the low percentage of the
transfers for mental health (4%), shared with the disabled,
and 7% for the health research fund, in contrast to 80% for the
healthcare attention.

The Colombian Foundation for Problem Gambling stated that 'there are gaps
Operational in the legislation, resources have only been regulated since 2000.
destined for play and do not propose concrete therapeutic actions
and preventive

Health is not a game

The game is for the player the illusion of a prize, for the State part of
your finances, for a few, incessant profit. Baltazar Medina, president
from the Colombian Federation of Entrepreneurs of Games of Chance and Luck
-Feceazar- said to EL PULSO: "Gambling addiction as a pathological inclination does not
there are casinos, bingos, or gaming rooms; those who have that
pathology will seek the game anywhere, even if there were none
establishments.

The problem in Colombia is treated irresponsibly, as there are no data.

reliable data about a specifically gambling population, let's start
because the Ministry of Social Protection still does not recognize gambling addiction
as a public health problem.” And added: “The dynamics they brought
games of chance and luck, and in particular the segment of localized games
it stagnated with the government's tax decisions, by changing the VAT from 5 to
16%, which affects demand and forces many small operators to
It is a disaster of their businesses by lowering profitability.

Jorge Ceballos Sáenz, Undersecretary of Support for Justice of Medellín,

he declared: "With the Police and the Departments of Education and Health we do
campaigns in educational institutions so that children do not access
games that create gambling addicts and we have relative success when we have
the monitoring of the parents. However, it is a disease in
growth in children and adults. The official emphasized the procedures
to shut down the pirate businesses and the recent decree of the Mayor's Office that
tightened the schedules further and called on the police to prevent the
children's access to those establishments.

As at the foot of the cross the seamless tunic was cast, Colombia plays to chance.
the most sacred: public health, whose fate seems sealed, as if everything
the country said with León De Greiff: “I throw the dice on the blue carpet of the night /
to play the supreme albur!

EIGHT TRILLION PESOS ARE GAMED BY COLOMBIANS EVERY YEAR IN GAMES OF CHANCE.

In Colombia, gambling is so ingrained in citizen culture.

that every year 4 trillion pesos are moved in sales, as explained by the
president of ETESA, Gloria Beatriz Giraldo.
The lotteries and games that the citizen encounters daily
unprepared in casinos, betting and others, have been legalized by 80%
one hundred, while the others are in the process of legalization.
Every day, more people are presenting a pathological gambling condition known
as a gambler, which is nothing other than the irrepressible addiction to this
of games.
For the San Buenaventura University of Medellín, "In Colombia there is no
restrictions for the installation of gaming rooms, video rooms, casinos,
slot machines, among others, and that is why some are found
located near schools, universities, and residential areas.
It is evident that the authorities exercise little control and that
explain the proliferation of gambling establishments that do not comply with the
normativity.
According to Dr. Maria del Pilar Jaime, President of the Game Foundation
Pathological, the most vulnerable people to falling into illness are
hombres de clase media entre los 20 y los 45 años, aunque las estadístcas
They are constantly changing.
In 1980, this pathology was recognized by the Psychiatric Association.
Americana as a psychiatric illness.
Eighth gambling fair.
With the presence of 80 exhibitors from 22 countries around the world, it begins in
Bogotá, the VIII Gambling Fair at Corferias. Although the entrance is
open to the public, the event organizers informed: "it's a fair
specialized for casino owners and gaming sites, where they will be able to
find new technologies, products, and prevention for addiction
It is expected that more than four thousand visitors will attend this edition of the fair.
between nationals and foreigners.

Between 2% and 3% of the population is on the path to becoming a gambling addict.

Experts and former addicts warn of the risks of new gambling offerings.
The first state study to measure the number of people who have
problems with the game are in the competition phase and, according to the Treasury, it
will be known 'before the end of the year'. Today there are no statistics, only estimates -
between 0.5% and 2% of the population is addicted, according to different experts,
but both specialized psychiatrists and former player associations
rehabilitated individuals confirm a 'progressive change in the profile of the gambler':
they are getting younger. They have a higher level of education and different
addictions: they are no longer hooked on bingo or slot machines, but on the
sports betting machines and online gambling, regulated in June of
2012.

In the United States, it has been estimated that approximately 15

millions of teenagers are involved in activities related to
the game, a figure that includes 2.2 million who have problems with the game or
What are pathological players.

In a study conducted involving 11,736 adolescents across grade levels.

sixth-twelfth, it was found that a non-negligible figure of 86% had
bet money on some game, 10% had some problem with the game and
5.8% were pathological gamblers.

The development of pathological gaming in adolescents

Although the risk factors have not been fully established, they have
associated some psychosocial variables and predictors with this age group,
such as gender (gambling addiction is more common in male adolescents) and the
substance abuse, where alcohol, like in adults, is the
substance with which more comorbidity has been observed, also associated with use
of nicotine (tobacco). It is estimated that these substances are used around two
more often for teenage gamblers than for non-gamblers.

In the mentioned study, 59% of the students who had problems

with the game I used drugs or drank alcohol, at least, once a
week. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the family history of gambling and
personality traits, such as impulsivity, are also
risk factors associated with adolescents, who very
They frequently have friends who influence them and urge them to play.

It has been seen how the incidence of this disorder has increased as a result of the
legalization of gambling in some states. The zealous growth in the
the gaming industry has increased people's 'contact' with it
form of entertainment, and an increase of 60% is calculated, in 1960, to 80%, in
1991, of people who had had some relationship with the game, in
general.

The estimated age of onset for men in the United States is 11-18.
years; however, the majority of the population of pathological players
adults are between 21 and 55 years old and comprise 24% of players
female gender pathologies. Various studies estimate that in that country
there are 2 million pathological players, 3 million people who
they have some problem with the game and 15 million people in total that
they are at risk of becoming pathological players, with a cost of 5
one billion dollars per year and an average debt per player of 35,185
dollars. The calculated prevalence is 1.2%- 3.4%, although some authors
they speak of a life prevalence of 0.42-3.8%.

Although there are still no data on the difference of this entity between
ethnic and racial groups - it is also thought that it is observed in the same way
In all social classes, it has been observed that pathological gambling occurs.
in a 3:1 ratio between men and women and that in these last ones it is of
later start, with the disadvantage that in them the development of the
disease is much faster, so the age at which they begin
treatment equals that of men.

There are few studies on this disease in women. Most of the

that have been carried out and the reported cases have as a population sample
to men in their entirety or for the most part, or simply do not report
the gender of the patients; furthermore, the lack of exploration of the
the symptomatology of pathological gambling in women can be caused by
subdiagnosis.

The main motivations of the female gender to play are to escape from
family and personal problems, while those of the male gender
They are the making of money and fun.

Several theories have been proposed as the etiology of pathological gambling. The
clinical characteristics of this pathology, which it also shares with others
psychiatric diseases have directed researchers towards the
search for its ethology based on previous works in the
that the cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was investigated and the
substance abuse disorders. Genetic theories, theories
associated with neurotransmitters and psychological theories have been described and
associated with each other to explain the behavior of the players
pathological and their symptoms.
From a neuropsychological point of view, elements have been found that
they highlight problems in executive function, according to reports from authors who
they have conducted studies with different tests. However, this land
lacks strong findings, given that there has been a lack of consensus in this regard,
about neuropsychological tests and pathological gambling scales
used; furthermore, small size samples have been used.

Studies have also been conducted on the level of alertness of the

pathological gamblers. It is known to be high and is confirmed with measurements of
blood pressure and heart rate in these individuals, as they have
found elevations of these in some cases and in a different way
between pathological players and non-pathological players. This derives from it
that heart rate is the most commonly measured variable and the most
sensible, compared to blood pressure and the measurement of the
cortisol concentrations, which have differed in some research studies; without
embargo, as with the topic of neuropsychological tests, still
There is a lack of studies with criteria for well-established variables and with samples.
larger populations.

Genetics

How pathological gambling is inherited is still unknown (16); however,

Studies with monozygotic and dizygotic pathological gambling twins
They showed a life prevalence of 22.6% and 9.8%, respectively.
(much higher than in the general population), which leads to the conclusion that the
Family factors could explain between 56%-62% of gambling cases.
pathological; others, although they did not show such a high correlation, did
they evidenced that in gambling twins, games with more action could
genetic influence and that the severity of the disorder could have a
family component.

Up to 20% incidence of pathological gambling has been reported in individuals.

with a first-degree blood relative who presents the
disease. Even in a study conducted at the Veterans Hospital of
Boston found that patients who perceived that their parents had
this problem had three times more chance of getting a score
in the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS, for its acronym in
English) that would result in a likely pathological player, and those who
they perceived that their grandparents were pathological gamblers
twelve times greater probability. The candidate genes for the study of the
The genetics of pathological gambling are those postulated as responsible for
the dopaminergic, serotoninergic, and noradrenergic systems involved
in this pathology.

Affective disorders
Many studies have found a high comorbidity between gambling
pathological and affective disorders. It has been observed that up to 76% of the
hospitalized patients diagnosed with pathological gambling comply
criteria for major depressive disorder and that approximately 28%
ten episodes of recurrent depression, perhaps due to the problems
continuously generated by the game.

It has also been seen that up to 18% of patients who suffered from
depression continues with this disorder despite abstinence from gambling.
It has even been observed that up to 97% of adult players
pathological have a risk of suicide and 27% commit suicide. High
percentages of dysthymia, of hypomania (38%) and of mania (8%) have
observed in these patients; this, associated with the clinical presentation,
reinforces the possibility that pathological gambling is part of the spectrum
bipolar.

Anxiety disorders
The comorbidity of pathological gambling and anxiety disorders has not been
it has been able to establish in a solid and clear way. Studies have been conducted
with small samples that indeed suggest it with an aesthetic of
pathologies, but their prevalences have been different in the studies
important ones that have been carried out. Bland and colleagues (32) reported - perhaps
one of the largest studies – a comorbidity of 16.7% with OCD and of
13.3% with agoraphobia (n=7,214). Specifically regarding this last one,
It is noteworthy that gamblers spend a lot of time developing
game strategies and planning their behavior in it (36).

Personality disorders
The association between gambling and criminal activities is quite common;
for this reason it is not surprising that some of these patients have
antisocial personality traits. Several studies have reported prevalences
antisocial personality variables in pathological players. Bland et al.
(32) reported in a study up to 40% of personality disorder
antisocial, while Blaszczynski and his group reported 14.6%. This
percentage difference could be attributed to patients with
people with antisocial personality disorder seek help to a lesser extent and
treatment for your gambling problems.

For their part, Kruedelbach et al. (33) showed in a study conducted in

162 gambling patients where 61.1% of the individuals presented a
personality disorder, of which the vast majority belonged to the group
B, followed by C and A.

Now, it is very likely that patients who have grounds for

present a personality disorder they ended up developing due to the
pathological gambling and the environment that favors it (5).

Attention deficit and hyperactivity

The association between pathological gambling and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
it arises from the similarity found in the electroencephalograms of
patients with pathological gambling and children with this comorbidity (38);
Furthermore, some studies have found attention deficit and hyperactivity in
pathological players (39), reporting a 20% comorbidity. Likewise,
they have found a correlation between gambling addiction and a history of deficit in
attention and hyperactivity in childhood (40).

Eating disorders
Some studies have asked additional questions to those of the
common questionnaires for diagnosing gambling addiction, related to
eating habits. In this way, they have found that many of the
patients report them; however, there are not enough studies to make
an approximation of the prevalence of pathological gambling.

GAMBLING ADDICTION AND SUICIDE

Gambling addiction is more serious when no one recognizes it as a health problem.

public. The game is for the player the illusion of a prize, for the State
part of their finances, for the owners of the gaming rooms incessant profit,
and for some who lose everything, suicide.

In Canada, there are between 200 and 400 suicides per year that are related.
with the game. A study conducted in 2003 at the Research Center
The Suicide Prevention of the University of Hong Kong determined that the
economic problems related to gambling affected more than one
of every four suicides that occurred precisely in Hong Kong.

In Venezuela, according to reported statistics, 5% of the adult population

suffers from gambling addiction, and of that 5%, 15% is prone to committing suicide.
In Colombia, up to 90% of gamblers consider suicide as a solution to
his family and social problems, to his debts. Of them, 50% tries to
and between 10-20% die from this cause.

A suicide attempt caused shock in a public place. Until there not

there seems to be nothing extraordinary, especially considering the frequency
with which self-harm occurs, with the everyday reality in which suicides
consumed appear in the news. The case in reference refers to a woman
41-year-old who attempted to take their life inside the bathroom of a premises.
bets; everything indicates that it was a gambling addict who kept losing
decided to end his life.

In another case, Jesus was a sales representative for Colombia and Ecuador of
a multinational company of personal care products. Every time I went
Cali used to play in the downtown casinos. His mother remembers that once he
He stayed three days in the city, supposedly wrapping up some business.
He arrived home in the early morning and left again at noon. He did this twice.
days and two nights until the third night, already at dawn, arrived at his
house and shot another in the head.

He had wagered 16,500 dollars on cards and roulette and had lost them.
The first night he lost 4 thousand dollars, the second night 8 thousand dollars. And, the
third, he gambled the money he had collected from the company, trying to
recuperar lo que había perdido las dos noches anteriores. La única salida que
he found that his tragedy was suicide.
Franco Grassi, a 56-year-old Italian, committed suicide and killed his wife and his
son, due to the depression caused by the loss in the game. From
Some time ago I was betting huge amounts on the Venice Lotto. Just like him
it happened to a woman, who committed suicide by throwing herself from the balcony of her house
after having spent all the family's savings on gambling
Loto, as she confessed in a letter left to her husband.

Gambling destroyed Juan Carlos. Christmas Eve was approaching,

There were three days left until that day. Juan Carlos was a man of principles and of
an ideal family. I was walking through the city center and by chance I passed
through the door of a casino. He was a sporadic gambler or what we call
social player, those who try their luck once a year. Without realizing that
the big monster was going to attack him, he entered the game room and sat down to play the
electronic roulettes. He never imagined the end. In three hours of play
he had lost all the money intended for the Christmas celebrations at his home,
both the cash he was carrying and the money he withdrew from the ATM that
I was at the casino.

Tomás, his 11-year-old son, was expecting a PlayStation (video game), his daughter.
6-year-old Camila was waiting for her first bike with training wheels and her wife a
new television. The afternoon of December 24th was very frustrating, because I
which he turned to a co-worker to whom he asked for borrowed money, which he
they gave, but it was still very little for what he had to do. He returned to
he played with what was borrowed and the devil did not forgive him and he lost everything. He lost his wife, to

his children and also lost his life when he chose the worst, and as the train passed
tró.

CYBER-GAMBLING
Internet gambling addict, Video games, or online gambling addict

Online gaming increases the cases of young people with gambling addiction.
The rise of online games through social networks and
smart mobile phones have significantly increased the number
of young people who go to the Internet
opens a door to the gambler between
young Internet users.
(G3) Cases of young people with gambling addiction are increasing due to the Internet and the
Smartphone. Between 17 and 35 years old, they have more tendency towards impulsivity and
seeking new sensations that act as triggering factors of the
addiction.

In Spain, Internet betting, the latest youth plague.

Online gaming is skyrocketing in Spain after its regulation.
consulted experts agree that it will increase. "Now there are many people
He has a problem with the game and doesn't know it.
This is a process, it goes through different phases,” assures Jerónimo Sáiz.
psychiatrist and founder of the gambling addiction treatment unit of the hospital
Madrid resident Ramón y Cajal, where he receives new patients every week.
We are starting to see younger people with
problemas con las apuestas deportvas o el juego online.

Many factors may be influencing this: the difficulty of young people.

to find work, problems of attention desegregation to the
children on the part of families... And there is no social awareness of the entity of the
problem. Estimates are debated, but between 2% and 3% of the
the population is on the path of becoming addicted to gambling and in the face of these new gambling offers,

effort of control and prevention to help people who can

to develop a disease - the gambling addiction is one according to the classifications
international psychiatric-, especially in adolescence and the
juventud, es totalmente insuficiente.”.

Enrique Echeburúa, professor of clinical psychology specialized in

Gambler, remember that betting houses and online gambling are growing.
exponentially and they have a great drag capacity among the most
young people. "My impression is that in about four or five years the game
online can present a majority level of inquiries.

Juan Lamas, technical director of the Spanish Federation of Gambling Players

Rehabilitated (FEJAR) warns about another problem: the disparate legislation.
autonomous. "Galicia, for example, allows the installation of machines of
bets in hospitality venues, and a waiter is not going to ask for ID to see
if the players are minors, neither to control the tempo nor the quantities that
they are playing." For Carlos Hernández, general director of regulation of
Game (dependent on the Ministry of Finance), a state law that will regulate
It is impossible to establish aspects because it would encroach on competencies, but
ensures that "work is being done with the autonomous communities to
unify the legislation.

Hernández denies, in any case, that with the existing data, he can
it increases the number of young people with gambling addiction. "We cannot say if
Is it a new problem, or has it existed before? Regulation is the first step.
for responsible gaming and we have not detected anything that makes us think
that online gaming is especially dangerous.

But Echeburúa assures that 'the danger' is 'greater' and lists the reasons:
"Advertising is everywhere and exposes people who in other
circumstances would not have knowledge of this type of game, especially
if it stars characters like Rafa Nadal, who has the image of the boy
perfect; A minor can register with their father's ID; In the game
online it cannot be prohibited to play for a person who is drunk, drugged or
at work, because you don't see her; the internet is available 24 hours a day,
if it gives you a rush, the satisfaction is immediate; in in-person gaming there is
that preparing to go out onto the street and in those minutes you can regret it; The
virtual money does not have the deterrent effect of cash, and above all:
The Internet is a solitary activity: you can lock yourself in your room and that
nobody knows or reproaches you for what you do.

The Government plans to restrict new forms of gaming. The project of

the decree is now in the objection phase at the European Commission and
Hernández estimates that it could be definitively approved in September.
The text prohibits the advertising of odds for event betting.
deportvos during their live broadcast; to be 'characters'
famous, with a special appeal for the children's or youth audience" those who
protagonize those advertising campaigns or associate that activity with
ideas or behaviors that express personal, family, social success or
professional.

Rafael Nadal's spots for Poker Stars do exactly that: sell.

that the tennis player wants to succeed on screens as on the courts: “I
I love competition in general. I like to win,” he says in one of them. The
the general director of game regulation assures that once approved the
Royal decree could continue announcing online poker "as long as the
message will end with a call to responsible gaming." In any case,
It does not share that the company's intention in turning to Nadal is to attract
minors. "He's not a Disney character," he says.

The draft decree also requires the operators of esthetics to

games to have a free telephone service to provide assistance
on responsible gaming matters"; to clearly indicate both on the websites
like in the arcade machines that minors are prohibited from
participate, and to establish protocols that allow detecting the
“disordered gambling behaviors,” understanding disorder as the
increase in one month of over 80% of the average spending of the three
previous months complete. A quantitative limit has not been set.
money, for example, 5,000 euros a month, or time, because both
concepts are relative, explains Hernández: it depends on money and the
time you have.

One of the consequences is that it has significantly increased the

number of young people who attend consultations with specialized doctors
in the pathological game. This is highlighted by a study from the Institute of
Biomedical Research of Bellvitge (Idibell) that has analyzed the influence
of age in pathological gambling disorder. The work, with more than 2,300
patients between 17 and 86 years old show that some personality traits
Associated with age are risk factors for falling into a gambling addiction.

Dr. Susana Jiménez, head of the Pathological Gambling Unit of

Bellvitge Hospital and coordinator of a study, assures that 'now they arrive
to the query younger patients, with university education and with levels
higher socioeconomic levels" as a consequence of the popularization of
online game, which has changed the profile of the patient with problems of
addiction.

Let's look at this unfortunate case:

The South Korean police arrested a couple addicted to Internet games.
who let her 3-month-old girl die of starvation.
This is one of thousands of tragedies caused by cyber addiction, perhaps the
the most widespread, uncontrollable, and least quantified modality of the
gambler.
It is estimated that online gambling sites generate annually
about US$18.200 billion dollars worldwide, but all calculation is
imprecise, as cyber games take up an increasingly larger space day by day,
replacing machines and casinos in many cases. Apart from some
reflection games such as chess, bridge, checkers, and creative games, that
they help cognitive development, this home vice has the potential to
addiction more overwhelming due to its accessibility.
This virtual universe, led by huge multinationals like the
Japanese Nintendo and Sony and the American Microsoft captured the adults and on
all to children and young people on their consoles like the Gameboy and the Game Cube, the
Play Station I - II - III, the X-BOX 360, the SEGA and similar, with their various
adventure, action, and simulation video games. Now they join the
computers and consoles in large interactive networks, where games are played
from the silver of the schoolboy's eleven to great fortunes, such a business
predator of the family economy like "online sports betting"
where to bet on the scores of Colombian, Spanish, and English football
Argentine or German, to the NBA basketball, baseball, boxing, etc. Access to
The network expanded through cell phones, the iPod, and other elements.
technological.

Internet has convergedtin the new doorway for gambling that

hooks children and young people and leads them into the world of gambling with the
money from the parents.
The network of networks offers easy access to virtual casinos.
The page in questiontit warns the user not to enter if it is
under 18 years old, but it is impossible to determine the age of the person who decides
play roulette. In this way, children and adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years
"they lock themselves in their rooms, spend countless hours and get hooked on
game.

The Spanish Federation of Rehabilitated Gambling Players (FEJAR)

announced that about 32,000 minorstsome issues with the game, it
which represents 4% of the 800,000 gambling addicts in Spain. The
The most used games by minors are the slots and those that are accessed.
over the Internet and by mobile phone. Online gaming exceeds 14.5
millions of euros.

DIAGNOSIS OF GAMBLING DISORDER

The diagnosis of pathological gambling is mainly carried out through
scales. The reference standard is the DSM-IV
(manual diagnostic and statistic of the
mental illnesses); however, the
widely used scale for its
the diagnosis is the SOGS, which has shown
a high correlation with the Manual of
diagnosis.

Esta escala fue diseñada por Henry Lesieur y

published in 1987 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Its objective was
create a quantifiable instrument that could be easily administered
by professionals and non-professionals.

For this reason, Dr. Lesieur and his team decided to create the aforementioned scale.
of pathological gambling, taking into account the defects and virtues of the scale
from the Society of Anonymous Gamblers, in order to design a scale that
generated fewer false negatives than that of the Players Society
Anonymous.

To make a diagnosis, the following aspects must be considered:

1.-Preocupación:La persona siempre piensa sobre experiencias
related to the game, in the past, present as the product of
his fantasy.
2.-Tolerance: The subject needs higher and more frequent bets to
to experience more emotions.
3.-Abstinence: Restlessness or irritability associated with attempts to
to quit or reduce gambling, unsuccessfully, does not have self-control.
4.-Escapism: The person plays to escape from their problems.
5.-Rematch: The subject tries to recover the losses from the game with
more game.
 6.-Meanwhile: The subject hides the amounts of money used in the
playing tricks on their family, friends, or therapists.
Illegal acts: The person begins to violate the law to obtain money.
and keep playing or recover what was lost.
8.-Risking significant relationships, such as an affectionate relationship or a
employment, continuing with the game.
9.-External resources: The person turns to family, friends, or to
third parties to obtain financial assistance as a result of this
is owed.

According to the DSM-IV, the diagnosis of gambling addiction is established when one
they meet at least four of the following characteristics:
Frequent and increasing concern about gambling or about obtaining
money to play, with a tendency to recall playful experiences from
past and planning new activities.
2. Play more frequently with larger amounts of money or for a period of
longer time compared to what was expected.
Need to increase the volume or frequency of the
bets to achieve the desired excitement.
Restlessness and irritability in case of not being able to play or when trying to.
reduce or quit the game.
5. Repeated losses of money due to gambling and reiteration in the
gambling behavior with the purpose of recovering losses.
6. Repeated unsuccessful efforts to quit or reduce gambling.
7. Increase in gaming behavior in the face of psychological difficulties or
social
8. Sacrifice of family, social, or occupational obligations for
being able to play.
9. Persistence in the game (inability to abstain) despite the
impossibility of paying the growing debts or to pass on to others
significant problems (social, occupational, legal), that the
persona sabe que son incrementados por el juego.

Although according to the WHO (World Health Organization) diagnostic manual

Pathological gambling is an impulse control disorder.
for most professionals and specialists in the field, the
Gambling is an addiction called "non-toxic," although there was a time
 that due to its similar characteristics with obsessive disorder-
compulsive, it was thought to be a form of this, calling it
compulsive gaming

The same problem is occurring in the other disorders of the same kind.
category and many other new disorders, which due to their complexity,
currently they are difficult to classify, as they are called, purchase
compulsive, cyberdependency, sex addiction, etc., and even some
eating disorders.

This diagnostic classification encompasses five specific categories.

intermittent explosive disorder, kleptomania, pathological gambling
pyromania and trichotillomania) The residual category falls under the heading of
unspecified impulse control disorder. The WHO agrees
practically in its entirety regarding this category in the
International Classification of Mental Disorders.

How addicted are you to gambling?

Answer the following questions:
If you use the computer... the first thing you do is search
any site to keep betting?
Yes No
Are you looking for excuses all the time to keep playing?
Yes No
Does meeting with certain people mean ending up at the casino?
Yes No
Do you borrow money to keep playing?
If No
5. Is the first thing you think about upon waking up when or how much?
Will you bet today?
If No
6. Does gaming take the highest priority in your life?
Yes No
7. Do you lie all the time about your gambling habits, including your
family and friends?
Yes No
If four of your answers have been positive, you have received an alert for
seek guidance for the treatment of the illness they suffer from
without realizing that she suffers from this terrible disease
addictive.

What is the most effective treatment?tWhat?

Does the pathological gambler or compulsive gambler recover?

What to do if I have problems with Pathological Gaming?

PREVENTION OF GAMBLING ADDICTION

When the obsession with gambling constantly interferes with the

daily life without being able to avoid it, despite being aware of its disastrous effects
consequences, it is time to put a stop to gambling addiction.

HOW TO PREVENT IT

The best way to prevent gambling addiction is "by counting on yourself".

to cope with the illness. Many people start playing
pathological like others in alcohol or other drugs; to overcome
emotionally negative situations for which they have no other
coping resource. In this way, and at first, the
game makes him forget his discomfort. They use it as a pill against the
pain. Little by little, the lights, the sounds... the different stimuli
associated with the game, they pursue them in their day-to-day life, becoming their
main source of pain without knowing how to keep it away from their lives.

If you think this happens to you and that gambling you

they are getting hooked, it is important that you be yourself whoever wants
continue doing it. Think about what the game offers you that does not.
provides other areas of your life and try to incorporate that into your day to day
You're missing it. It's possible that you play because you feel lonely, because it's the
a way to obtain something positive or to relax. Achieve that goal of
healthier way (sign up for an activity that allows you to meet
people, learn techniques to control stress.
 If you think there is a routine that leads you to play, try to change it.
For example, don't go have breakfast at that bar where you always start to
play). You can also control your tendency to gamble by not carrying money.
It's good that you communicate your concern to trustworthy people to
that they try to support you, just like those people who accompany you in
the game so that you are not encouraged to continue doing it, although in this
last case it is preferable that, at least until you have won a greater
self-control, try to see them less.

At a social level, it would be good to exercise control over the high exposure to
game (lottery, baloto, chance, bingos, bets on football matches), already
that many times it is conveyed that only the one who wins is successful.

Eight keys to prevent gambling addiction

Gambling addiction is one of the most complicated problems.
that exist to overcome. But it is always possible. Read these keys to
being able to better deal with this problem.
1- Avoid passing near casinos, racetracks, or any source of
game.
You hardly got hooked on the online game.
3- Do not provoke behaviors that will lead you to play.
4- Avoid bad company.
Stop doing anything to get money to play.
Don't live planning when your next visit to the casino will be.
7- Discover other things in life.
Stop lying to your family and friends.

The following is anticipated as strategies:

Make available to the general public channels of attention via
by phone or online for those who wish to voluntarily
count on help and guidance, safeguarding confidentiality of
your identity is no longer the case to contact them with representatives of
non-profit organizations in the field of gambling or in the case of
health professionals in order to provide them with support and counseling,
being able, as the case may be, to provide a care service
 therapeutic to the affected person, which also extends to the area
familiar in order to contribute to their rehabilitation.
Informative and preventive talks at the institutional level
Educators, associations of gamblers, and other sectors that may be
considered vulnerable regarding gambling addiction and its treatment.
Advertising campaigns through videos that contain information
about responsible gaming as well as the consequences of gambling
excessive, being able to make use of social media
such as radio, press, television, and other media with which it is achieved
the same end.
Advertise at gaming fairs and conventions the recommendations for
the prevention of gambling addiction.
Inclusion of the Legend "GAMBLING TOO MUCH CAUSES GAMBLING ADDICTION" as part
of the advertisements placed in the gaming room as well as in the
that is delivered to the public.
Distribution of posters, notices, flyers, etc. with informative content
about the risks of excessive gambling and the guidelines
related to responsible gaming aimed at people who
they go to the game places.
It is very important to know about the treatment of gambling addiction.

TREATMENT OF GAMBLING ADDICTION

Like any addiction, gambling has treatment and cure.
 To overcome gambling addiction...

There are various rehabilitation centers and many types of treatments.

to overcome gambling addiction. Choose the right center and treatments for
overcoming gambling addiction, whether it is for oneself or for a loved one, is
extremely important as it will determine the recovery of a life
normal and healthy for the person who suffers from delusions.

The treatment to overcome gambling addiction must be characterized mainly by

for the following points:
Reliability, at least 90% of the patients must be recovered.
Brevity, 28 days of treatment without mandatory hospitalization.
Personalized treatment, each case must be treated individually.
Intensive counseling, 30 or more hours a week.
Lifestyle change, achieving a better existence.
Respect for the person, humanist attitude
that promotes respect for the person.

The family plays a very important role.

from the recovery of the person who suffers from
substance addiction, behaviors and
loss of control of emotions. For this reason, it is
necessary for the family to be informed about how they are related to and affected by
the illness of your loved one. Take your time in reading the following
page where you will find important and useful information about how the
a person's addiction can affect their family and how their loved ones
they can help to recover.
Provide valuable assistance to the family and loved ones of the person with
the disease. However, it must be taken into account that the family receives
frontally the impact of an addiction, so that there is no family
that it does not get affected and show symptoms of dysfunction when one of its
members suffer from the disease.

Paradoxically, the family affected by addiction ends up producing a

system of behaviors that support the development of addiction. Not all the
relatives can become codependent but yes, they are affected by the
direct or indirect consequences of the disease.
The support and participation of the family are important for the person.
with the gambler can overcome their problems and the family regain its harmony.
Hay que tener en cuenta que la enfermedad no solo afecta al paciente sino
it also affects all members of your family. Help to promote a
understanding environment where it is possible to share with people who are
understand.

What is codependency and how does it affect the family?

Codependency is the disease of the family and of intimate individuals.
the person who has an addiction. Codependency is a product of the way
of processing in the brain of the person affected by the disease. If the
the brain of the sick person processes differently, all their
functions begin to deteriorate. In this way, they deteriorate the
family relationships, social ones, economic ones, labor ones. This
results in the sick person having a poor self-image,
as if everything they do, say, think, and feel is 'wrong'. Likewise
modo, con eltempo los familiares comienzan a deteriorar sus sentmientos,
attitudes and thoughts in the same way as the person who suffers from the
disease.

There arises the misunderstanding. It's as if they were speaking different languages and the
family members, just like the sick person, begin to feel unwell because of their
behaviors that, added to the feeling of guilt, make up the
relationships and life a 'hell'. Therefore, if one wishes to recover a
a person is not possible if the family is not simultaneously recovered. Hence,
we place great importance on family recovery. It is not real
to assume that everything will be solved if substance consumption stops, it changes
of behavior or emotions. But it is also necessary for everyone to
In the family, recover your emotions and enjoy a 'normal' life.

Codependency is a disorder resulting from the environment in which we have

grown and in which we have been educated. The codependent person suffers
for things for which he really does not deserve to suffer, monopolizes the
others' suffering and makes it his own, at the same time that he forgets about his own
real problems, one's own.

It is necessary to know the related factors in order to avoid and control.

this disturbing disorder. Take your time reading this page to
to learn what codependency is about, how it affects the family and how
to be able to control it. Codependency can occur in anyone who
is in contact with another person's addiction, whether a family member, friend,
partner, couple or client suffering from addiction.

There are also other behavioral disorders and illnesses that can
generate codependence, such as schizophrenia, violence, abuse
and neuroses. Anyone exposed to these disorders can develop
codependence.

Many times someone who has developed codependence due to growing up in a

dysfunctional addictive environment, does not manifest major symptoms until it
house or form a couple relationship. On the other hand, very regularly the
daughters of addicts end up marrying other addicts, even without this being the case
a conscious decision.

Codependency originates in dysfunctional families and turns individuals into

members of those families into hyper-vigilant individuals. By being in the environment
familiar so full of stress due to violence, alcohol addiction or
drugs, the emotional illnesses of its members, etc.; the person
codependent focuses their attention on their surroundings to defend themselves from
some real or imaginary danger. The state of alert is a defense of
our bodies, something temporary that helps us defend ourselves in moments
de peligro. Pero cuando ese estado se vuelve crónico, la persona pierde el
contact with its internal reactions, as their attention is focused all the time
outside of yes same.
Therefore, it is necessary for families with a member suffering from addiction
they should also be addressed in order to overcome those problems that do not
they do not allow for a healthy or happy life.

The compulsive gambler will require all the support of their family and friends. This does not
it means not only emotional support but also backing to accompany him to the
therapeutic sessions, praising their progress and something very important, not
fall with him or her in the relapses.
If you are a family member or friend of a gambler, do not hesitate to ask the
psychologist, what you should and should not do to help him, do not cover his debts,
he will not learn to face the consequences of playing and the problem will grow.

Make him ask for help, insist that

the problem-solving, consultation
with a professional to help the
player or to influence in what
recognize the problem. Knowing
that the gambling addict is the impulse
irrepressible I recommend you:
Never start playing.
Take care of the messages you send to your
family and especially your children. If they constantly hear you say that winning a
The grand prize could solve your economic problems, you are fostering
a gambling dependency behavior.
Acupuncture
It gives good results in all types of addictions. Gambling exists.
in China for thousands of years and for that reason certain points were discovered
for the treatment of gambling addiction.
The practice of relaxation
The mental power, primarily from yoga and meditation, provides excellent
results for the treatment of pathological gambling.
The practice of some sport
Physical exercises in a gym or at home, in an organized manner.
They contribute to distracting and improving the psychological response against gambling addiction.
Consult a psychologist and remember that the sooner you do it, the better.
Remember, everything has a solution.
To treat the patient there are...
Aid institutions
Psychiatric institutions
Psychological therapies
Educational, sociological, medical guidelines
Formulation of antidepressants
Support groups
Anonymous Players.
Behavioral and cognitive therapy,
family group
Medications.

the relatives of a compulsive gambler, specialists recommend that they try to

objectively explain to the player what is happening, the amount of
money spent on gambling and the time not dedicated to his family.
It is also important to note irritability and nervousness.

It is important
take into account the
comorbidity of
pathological gambling
to define its
treatment.
Although there are several studies about this
theme, the differences in methodology and the small samples with which one
they make it difficult to create specific guidelines for this purpose, more
even taking into account that many publications about the treatment of
Pathological gambling is based on experience, case reports, and studies.
open with differences in terms of variables and instruments used and, in
Occasionally, with a poor description of the characteristics of the patients.

Pharmacological treatment
Multiple medications have been used for the treatment of gambling.
pathological according to its characteristics and its association with other entities
psychiatric: mood stabilizers, µ-opioid receptor antagonists,
serotonin reuptake inhibitors and typical and atypical antipsychotics
have been studied and formulated for patients with this problem.

Mood stabilizers: lithium, carbamazepine, and valproic acid

Although the literature on this subject is still limited, there are some reports.
in cases where the use of lithium, carbamazepine, and valproic acid has yielded very
good results in pathological players; however, limitations in the
methodology used and deficiencies in the description of the characteristics of
patients still consider these medications an area that needs to be
investigate more deeply.

The investigation of the use of mood modulators in gambling patients

pathological is based on the theory that this entity could be part of the
bipolar spectrum, as mania can be characterized by behaviors
impulsive and irrational from the point of view of money and that the
Comorbidity between cyclothymia and pathological gaming has been frequently observed.
The emergence of new studies with larger population samples is expected.
large and with medications that could promise even more with their
mechanism of action like, lamotrigine, which with its properties
mood stabilizers and anti-impulsive medications could help in the treatment of
this entity.

Serotonin has been postulated as one of the mechanisms involved in

impulse control disorders and obsessive spectrum disorders
compulsive; for this reason, for those for whom pathological gambling is an entity
basically related to the poor control of these and for whom it
taken within the obsessive-compulsive spectrum, serotonin and the
medications that act by modifying their reuptake are a point
important in the treatment of pathological players.

The use of clomipramine at doses of 125-175 mg per day for 28 weeks has
improved in pathological gambling patients compared to placebo.
It is worth mentioning that the use of antidepressants is more effective than
other medications when there is comorbidity with depression.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

Given the demonstrated effectiveness of IRS, studies have been conducted with
ISRS, as it relies on its safety regarding side effects.
refers. In general terms, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, citalopram, and the
Fluoxetine has been investigated in the treatment of pathological gambling and has
found effectiveness in all, but at doses higher than those used in
depressive disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders (200-300 mg of fluvoxamine,
40-60 mg of paroxetine, and up to 60 mg of citalopram and 80 mg of fluoxetine.
It is important to highlight that with these medications it has been found that
they reduce short-term symptoms and are effective regardless of
whether or not there is comorbidity with depression.

In the case of antidepressants, the treatment should be started at low doses.

Below I describe some examples:
Clomipramine: start with 25 mg per day until reaching 175 mg per day
Fluvoxamine: start with 50 mg per day up to 200-300 mg per day.
Citalopram: start with 10 mg per day and increase to 60 mg per day.
Fluoxetine: start with 20 mg until reaching 80 mg a day.
Paroxetine: start with 10 mg per day until reaching 50-60 mg.

There is a study on the management of patients suffering from pathological gambling and
anxiety with escitalopram. The researchers compared the medication
with the placebo in a discontinuation trial. In this study, despite
having a small population sample, positive results were observed
with this molecule, and this opened the field of research even more and the deck
of medications concerning the treatment of this pathology.

Opioid receptor antagonists: naltrexone

The main mechanism of action of naltrexone in the CNS is the
antagonism of the µ receptors for opioids, site where the
Betaendorphins, morphine, and heroin act as agonists. The system of
mu opioid receptors are involved in pain response, pleasure and
reward; apparently naltrexone acts through the modulation of
GABA in the dopaminergic neurons of the mesolimbic pathway, more
specifically in the nucleus accumbens; for this reason it has been investigated within
of the pathophysiology of pathological gambling and this has also been associated with it
mechanism to the sense of urgency involved in pathological gambling.

Naltrexone has been used in psychiatric pathologies, where urgency is

the predominant symptom, such as kleptomania, bulimia nervosa and the
obesity, in addition to self-aggressive behaviors, personality
limit and dependence on substances such as opioids, alcohol, nicotine, and
cocaine. This fact supports the theory that pathological gambling is a
entdad belonging to the group of addictions.

This medication has been described as treatment for gambling.

pathological in larger doses than usual. It should be started at 25 mg per day,
on top of the meals to avoid digestive side effects, with a
increase every two weeks by 50 mg until reaching a dose of 100 to 150 mg
daily. As a precaution, hepatic toxicity should be taken into account that
it presents with naltrexone and therefore it is necessary to avoid concomitant use
with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Antipsychotics

Based on the comorbidity between schizophrenia and related disorders

addiction (including pathological gambling), various authors have described
a decrease in addictive behaviors in patients
schizophrenics treated with antipsychotics; however, they have been designed
few studies with pathological players. Case reports show
some effectiveness of these medications and the best response seems to be the
of atypical antipsychotics.

The duration of pharmacological treatment is estimated to be for

Less than eight weeks, a time during which results have been seen.
favorable; however, treatments have been reported for up to four months or
more. It should be noted that given the methodological limitations of the
studies, the time it should last is not described unanimously
treatment for pathological gamblers.

Resistance to treatment
Due to the high comorbidity and how much is still unknown about the game
pathological, it cannot be expected that an equal and adequate response will be given in all the
patients. Grant et al. define refractoriness in this case as
patients who continue to experience symptoms related to the
game after: (1) appropriate treatment with SSRIs (fluvoxamine 200-
300 mg/day, paroxetine 40-60 mg/day) for a considerable time (to
less than 10-12 weeks) or (2) naltrexone at a dose of 100 mg or more with
appropriate duration.

Despite the little literature that exists on refractoriness of

treatment, it can be stated that the addition of another medication to a
Monotherapy can result in significant clinical improvement. It should be taken into account.
Keep in mind that comorbidity can be the cause of a poor response, one must
consider the associated clinical characteristics to make an adequate
combination of drugs.

Non-pharmacological treatment

Within the treatment options for pathological gambling, there have been
described various forms of non-pharmacological therapy, among which are
cognitive therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, groups
of self-help and inpatient rehabilitation treatment.

In the United States, the Anonymous Players Association has a program.

similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, where rehabilitated people provide
support for those who are joining, with a self-help and assistance program
group that consists of 12 levels. With this, percentages are reached
abandonment of the program in the first year of up to 70% with a
abstinence of those who continue at 8% per year and 7% at 2 years.

Since the 1970s, there have been institutions in the United States that
patients with gambling are rehabilitated in an intrahospital setting.
pathological. Statistics report a one-year abstinence of up to the
55% after 2-3 months of rehabilitation programs.
Psychotherapeutic approaches are varied. From a perspective
psychodynamic, there are no reports of well-designed studies regarding the
effectiveness of this therapy; however, work is done on the organization
narcissistic personality and the related defense mechanisms, the
omnipotence and its relation to the illusion of being able to control events (7).

Cognitive therapy, for its part, seeks to correct those same thoughts.
irrational beliefs in which the subject has the idea of being able to control chance and
overestimates the chances of winning, as it leaves one more memory
the times he won compared to the times he lost.

Behavioral therapy aims to correct the pathological player by observing

his behavior as learned and based on that to approach and treat the
patient using techniques such as desensitization and others like those of
relaxation and improvement of social skills, taking into account the
specific situation of each one. This also helps to confront others.
problems that influence the development of gambling addiction, to use better
way free time and even develop plans, whose purpose is to pay the
debts left due to gambling addiction.

It has been established that pharmacological therapy associated with the no

pharmacological produces better results and that the latter helps to
patient has better adherence to treatment.

The pathological gaming in adolescents

In a study conducted among 11,736 adolescents across grade levels

sixth-twelfth, it was found that a significant figure of 86% had
bet money on some game, 10% had some problem with the game and
5.8% were pathological gamblers.

Although the risk factors for the development of pathological gambling in

adolescents have not fully established themselves, some have been associated
psychosocial variables and predictors with this age group, such as gender
(gambling addiction is more common in adolescent males) and abuse of
substances, where alcohol, just like in adults, is the substance with the
which has been seen more comorbidity, also associated with the use of nicotine
(tobacco). It is estimated that these substances are used about twice as much
for the gambling adolescents than for the non-gambling ones.
In the aforementioned study, 59% of the students that had
problems with the game used drugs or drank alcohol, at least, one
once a week. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the family history of
game and characteristics of personality, such as impulsivity, are also
risk factors associated with adolescents, who are very
they frequently have friends who influence them and encourage them to play.

The diagnosis of pathological gambling in adolescents is also made with

based on the DSM-IV, although there are validated scales for this age group
like the South Oaks Gambling Screen Revised for Adolescents (SOGS-RA), which
it is a modification of the already mentioned and widely used SOGS and that
has received great acceptance with an adequate construct validity and with the
the only criticism, so to speak, is that it has not yet been sufficiently tested
in women. There are other scales adapted for adolescents such as the DSM-
IV adapted for youth and the Massachusetts Adolescent Gambling Screen.

The treatment of gambling addiction in adolescents is based on the same one used
in adults. Pharmacotherapy with SSRIs, SNRIs, naltrexone, and modulators of
affection is common in this group of funds and is based on the studies conducted in
adults, since there is still a lack of research on youth regarding this matter.

Self-help groups for teenagers have also started to

develop (in the United States they count the Gam-A-Team); in Colombia, the
The Pathological Gambling Foundation has been concerned about adolescents and
carry out

Colombian Association of Psychiatry

Cra 18 No. 84 - 87 Of. 403
Phones: +57 +1 +2561148 - +57 +1 + 6162706
Bogotá - Colombia

Seed of Solitude

Calle 35 No. 21-20

La Soledad neighborhood (near Park Way).
Telefonos:2458901 / 3176460904
semillasdevida2@[Link]
Bogotá Colombia
How to contact Andenes?

It's very simple, you can contact us in three ways.

Whichever of the three you choose, we have a staff of professionals.
capable and understanding individuals who will help and guide him to resolve any doubts
any concern you may have about our services. That's why,
feel free to contact us at any time whether to ask us
a free counseling appointment, or simply guide her via phone or
email.

Via email:

By phone:
(511) 243-4975
(511) 445-8441

Via instant messaging through the following form:

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Directions:

Andenes Treatment Center - Miraflores Headquarters: Bartolome

Trujillo 143 - Miraflores - Lima 18 - Perú

BOGOTÁ

Bogotá G.A.
Address: Carrera 66 # 168A - 35 Int. 2 Ap. 301 ........ BOGOTÁ
Hours of operation: Thursday at 6:00 PM.

Bogotá G.A.
Dirección: Calle 118A - # 14 - 70 ........ BOGOTÁ
Opening hours: Thursday from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Centaur G.A.
Address: Street 126B # 37 - 72 ........ BOGOTÁ
Opening hours: Tuesday at 7:00 PM.

New Directions
Dirección: Calle 108A # 4 - 15 ....... BOGOTÁ
Teléfono: (571) 619 11 52
Correo electrónico: info@[Link]
Web:[Link]
This data is up to date as of January 2011.

Comment:
Although this Association is more focused on substance addictions, it doesn't hurt to have it.
keep in mind in this list.
The New Directions Corporation is a non-profit organization that works for the community.
through guidance and research for the prevention of substance use
psychoactive.

Colombian Foundation for Pathological Gambling

Teléfonos: (051) 5436539 - 6115616 y 3115616417
Correo electrónico: ayuda@[Link]
Web:[Link]
The Colombian Foundation for Pathological Gambling is a non-profit foundation, created with the
purpose of generating research, study, and development on the issue of gambling addiction and others
behavioral addictions, as well as the consequences that these disorders cause, for
provide information, prevention and support through a professional and ethical multidisciplinary group
support for those dealing with these pathologies.

Legislation in Colombia on gambling addiction

Rules on casinos congressman LUCERO CORTES, 2006 TO 2010