|
Administrator
|
By Black Voices On Money on 05/17/2010 – 11:21 am PDT
When I was young, my father used to tell me and my brother that a gambling addiction is one of the worst addictions for a person to have. He said that it’s worse than drugs, alcohol or anything else. I am not sure if my father was right about that or not, but we listened to him. Millions of African Americans find themselves financially ruined by the gambling that takes place on casino boats that are heavily marketed to inner city communities.
A new study in the Journal of Neuroscience analyzes the minds of problem gamblers. Researchers Henry Chase and Luke Clark analyzed 20 people who enjoy gambling, some of whom were recreational gamblers, and some of whom were “pathological gamblers,” meaning that gambling may cut into their everyday lives.
They scanned their brains while allowing them to play on a simple slot machine. The study found that one of the trappings of gambling addiction is the “near miss,” where you almost win, but not quite. The researchers concluded that the presence of a near miss has an impact on the brain’s reward system, namely two areas called the ventral striatum and anterior insula.
Scientists have long known that a brain chemical called dopamine has a huge impact on how gambling affects us all. Dopamine is a$$ociated with other forms of addiction, but they do not fully understand how it works.
“This study provides an important advance in our understanding of how the brain’s reward circuits underlie one form of addictive behavior, pathological gambling,” said Steven Quartz, director of the California Institute of Technology’s Brain, Mind, and Society Ph.D. program. “Many modern games of chance, especially slot machines, compel some people to play repeatedly even when they are not winning.”
The conclusion of the scientists is that near misses are tempting for the problem gambler, because it tricks the brain into thinking that it is actually learning something about the gambling environment. The gambler thinks, “I almost won, and now I’ve got it figured out.” The reality is that the same probabilities always apply and you are no less or more lucky than you were before.
Be careful when gambling, it can significantly affect your life. If you find that you have a gambling problem, make sure you get help. Please call The National Council on Problem Gambling at 1-800-522-4700, if you think you or a loved one may need help. This is an issue in the black community that is rarely addresses, even though gambling is often promoted to us. A gambling addiction is one of the easiest ways to destroy your financial security, as well as your relationships and personal life.
Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of the Great Black Speakers Bureau. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.
|
Addiction Help Forum
Author
Logged
