Psychiatrist Says Problem Gambling May Be Genetic

A psychiatric survey shows problem gambling appears to be transmitted genetically, or inherited, rather than developed by exposure to gaming.

Continuing to add to the growing evidence that compulsive gambling is a physiological disorder not caused by increased gambling availability, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA says problem gambling may be inherited. Dr. Timothy Fong reports in Psychiatric Times that pathological gambling has been shown to have a high level of genetic transmission.

"It is unclear what is being genetically inherited, although the trait for risk-taking preference, absence of loss aversion, or sensitivity to immediate rewards may be responsible," says Fong.

Fong notes the relationship frequently documented between compulsive gaming and the use of dopamine agonists in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Other scientists have also discussed the relationship between dopamine levels in the brain and risk-taking behavior, leading many to conclude that addictive behavior is the result of brain chemistry.

Fong's evidence adds to the wealth of information discrediting political calls for gambling bans to prevent problem gambling. Like many other recent surveys, Fong finds that about one percent of the general population are pathological gamblers, a number unaffected by regional gaming laws or gambling proliferation.

Fong goes so far as to discuss the debate among mental health experts about problem gambling as an impulse control disorder. Some have suggested it more properly belongs as an obsessive-compulsive problem.