Addiction, in its most general definition, is the continuation of a behavior despite knowing that it causes harm, accompanied by a gradual weakening and eventually a complete loss of control over that behavior. At the end of this process, the addicted person becomes disconnected from responsibilities in other areas of life. Gambling addiction and, similarly, gaming addiction involve the fundamental learning and reinforcement mechanisms of the addiction process, even though they do not involve substances.
How Does It Develop?
Addiction is a three-stage cycle. The first stage, the reward and excitement phase, provides pleasure, relief, excitement, and an escape from everyday problems. The second stage is the learning and conditioning phase and is triggered by various internal and external stimuli. These stimuli include phone notifications, money, and encouragement from friends. The third stage is referred to in psychology as compulsive repetition. Its foundations date back to research conducted with pigeons by Harvard psychologist Skinner in the 1950s. Being in anticipation of a reward without knowing when it will occur is referred to as “variable-ratio reinforcement,” and the gambling industry has designed its business model around this cycle. At the end of this cycle, the person continues the behavior not only to experience pleasure, but also to suppress inner tension, escape feelings of emptiness and anxiety, and experience excitement.
This process involves learning, attention, habit, and decision-making systems through the activation of various regions of the brain and takes shape alongside an intense release of dopamine. Contrary to what is generally believed, dopamine is not a neurotransmitter of pleasure. Through the activation of “reward anticipation” and the element of surprise it creates, dopamine generates the desire to try again. In short, dopamine is a neurotransmitter of anticipation.
Therefore, as with all types of addiction, gambling and gaming addiction is a disorder influenced by genetic predisposition, personality traits, psychological state, and the environment. It is a condition that is very difficult to overcome through “willpower” (self-control) alone and carries a high risk of recurrence.
Symptoms
For a behavior to be considered an addiction, the person must lose control over the behavior, significantly disrupt their daily responsibilities, or become completely disconnected from these responsibilities. The psychiatric diagnostic manual states that certain behaviors must have been repeated within the past year for the behavior to be defined as pathological. These behaviors are:
Increasing the amount of money invested and played in order to experience the same excitement
Becoming restless or angry when distancing oneself from the behavior
Repeatedly failing in attempts to stop
Being constantly preoccupied with gambling or gaming
Turning to gambling or gaming when anxious or depressed
Gambling in order to recover lost money
Concealing the extent of the addiction and lying
Jeopardizing basic areas of responsibility (education, work, relationships, career)
Relying on others to escape the crisis caused by gambling (borrowing money despite knowing that it cannot be repaid, failing to keep promises)
Vulnerabilities Exploited by Game Creators
Those who design and regulate gaming or gambling processes make use of all the vulnerabilities of human psychology.
Some of the mechanisms that exploit human vulnerabilities include:
Using the element of surprise resulting from not knowing when a reward will arrive
Creating a “near-win” effect
Chasing losses
Creating an illusion of control
Abstracting money through chips or virtual tokens
It must be acknowledged that, on one side, there are those who use scientific findings to exploit people, while on the other side there are predominantly young people whose impulse-control regions of the brain have not yet fully developed. Therefore, rather than blaming and holding young people responsible, it would be more appropriate to hold accountable those who design and manage this “business.”
The characteristics of individuals at risk of gambling or gaming addiction have been listed as follows:
Starting gambling or gaming at an early age, being male, engaging in impulsive behaviors, and having a high need for excitement. In addition, depression, anxiety and loneliness, alcohol or substance use, a family history of addiction, financial difficulties and the need to obtain money quickly, symptoms of ADHD, and easy access to gaming opportunities are characteristics observed among individuals at risk.
Although gambling may appear to some as an easy way to make money, as addiction develops, the person begins to gamble not to win, but to escape distress, experience excitement, and, in the case of gaming, avoid their responsibilities.
A Public Health Problem
The 2024 Lancet Public Health Commission reports that approximately 450 million adults worldwide experience gambling-related risk or harm. As can easily be understood, gambling, like other addictions, affects not only the addicted person but also their family, children, relatives and friends, and professional environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that gambling can cause family conflict, financial crises, impoverishment, criminal behavior, and violence even among many people who do not reach the level of clinical addiction.
A meta-analysis conducted by Tran and colleagues in 2024 found that 46% of adults and 18% of adolescents had gambled within the previous year. It is also known that online betting channels significantly increase the risk of addiction. The main reasons are listed as follows:
The short period of time between placing a bet and receiving the outcome
The possibility of placing multiple bets simultaneously
Personalized rewards and discounts
“Free” or “risk-free” betting language
Emphasizing winnings while concealing losses
Integrating betting screens with sports broadcasts
As stated above, the problem stems from the ability of those who manage this “business” to use human vulnerabilities as a whole to successfully “design products with a high potential to create problems.” For example, it has been scientifically demonstrated that a near miss creates a feeling associated with winning in the brain and generates the desire to try again. For this reason, slot machines and betting applications are designed in ways that continuously reinforce this effect.
The Blurring of the Boundary Between Gaming and Gambling
Loot boxes, case opening, random in-game rewards, and speculation through crypto assets blur the boundary between gambling and digital gaming. In addition, sports betting is positioned as part of an interest in sports, weakening the perception of risk among young people.
Data concerning Türkiye are based on Yeşilay’s 2025 report. According to this report, approximately 10% of the population aged 15 and above appears to have gambled at least once. Considering that this corresponds to 6.8 million people, the extent of the concern becomes clear. Estimates based on data from the Ministry of Interior indicate that the annual volume of the illegal gambling market is 50 billion dollars. Considering that the legal market is worth 6 billion dollars, another parameter that provides an indication of the scale of the problem comes to light.
Treatment
All forms of addiction are difficult to treat, and the likelihood of relapse is high across all types of addiction. However, the treatment of gambling and gaming addiction is particularly difficult and carries a high risk of recurrence. At present, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been reported to provide limited improvement. Such a treatment process aims to identify gambling and gaming triggers, limit access to money and gambling environments, develop alternative ways of coping with distress and anxiety, establish concrete plans for debt and family problems, and break out of the cycle of attempting to compensate for losses.
Although there is no proven solution through medication, opioid antagonists are used by some physicians. However, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, substance use, and suicide risk accompanying the addiction must be assessed during treatment.
Within the scope of this problem, families also have important responsibilities in addition to the financial burden.
The most important of these include, although difficult, speaking openly without judgment. Other key recommendations include making the flow of money transparent, preventing access to credit cards and online payments, closing betting accounts, not secretly or openly assuming the debt, and taking concrete steps toward professional help. It must be acknowledged that none of these measures is easy and that all of them have ways of being circumvented; however, these are what is currently known.
At the foundation of all types of addiction lies an important determinant: the person’s failure or difficulty in coping with the realities and problems of life, forming connections, and taking responsibility. Therefore, the support of family members and close relations is of great importance. Almost all those who overcome addiction emerge from among those who are able to receive this support.
Conclusion
As can be seen, although gambling and gaming addiction has occupied an important place on the agenda for different reasons, it has gradually developed and has now become a serious public health problem. This problem leaves families helpless, darkens the futures of young people, and prevents them from realizing their potential and living healthy lives; therefore, very serious regulations are needed. Restricting access to illegal websites is the easiest measure to implement, but its impact is zero. Providing information within the education system, creating regular awareness through public service announcements, completely banning advertisements for legal and illegal websites, as is the case with cigarettes and alcohol, and making support services easily accessible and expanding them are among the first measures that come to mind.
