Compulsive Gambling

Compulsive gambling is another form of addiction, not unlike drug abuse. Compounding the problem is the fact that it is legal, in fact a source of significant revenue for 48 states in the US. Bill Cohen joins Darryl Inaba in discussing problem gambling and the status of treatment.

DSM-5 draft released for comment

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was released for public comment recently. The bible of the mental health community – its used in defining what is a mental disorder by establishing criteria and terminology. The changes will have far reaching impacts -medical, legal, mental health treatment, research – with potentially billions of dollars at stake. And controversy is already swirling. Dr Inaba comments.

Re-evaluating drug laws-taxing, treatment and communities

California and Colorado are looking at legalizing and taxing marijuana, similar to alcohol. New Jersey just became the 14th state to allow medical marijuana use. We look at history of governments using addictions as a revenue source … and also issues of treatment, or lack thereof … and also an innovative South Dakota group working to create a grassroots, community effort to pick up where traditional treatment leaves off.

Holidays – Guilt, Gambling & Java

Those with addiction issues can find the Holiday Season bringing up old wounds – we look at issues of guilt. Also news about treatment for gambling addiction, and a chat about the addictive qualities of caffeine.

The "Gambler’s Fallacy"

…80% of gambling treatment replicates A & D treatment, but 20% is unique to gamblers… beliefs such as "I can beat the odds," "This machine owes me," and "Its my money: I can do with it what I want" reflect this