Gambling
Addiction
or Problem Gambling is an urge to gamble despite harmful
negative consequences or a desire to stop. The term is preferred
to compulsive gambling among many professionals, as few people
described by the term experience true compulsions in the
clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by
whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others, rather
than by the gambler's behaviour. Severe problem gambling may be
diagnosed as clinical pathological gambling if the gambler meets
certain criteria, or alternatively as a behavioural addiction.
