Gambling and Smoking:

by Jerry "Jet" Whittaker

February 13, 2006

Research continues to indicate that people can become addicted to gambling, or high risk situations, in the same way that they become hooked on drug and the brain releases dopamine that is a neurotransmitter that produces euphoria when the element of risk is involved. As with drug addiction, people gamble to elevate dopamine levels and with gambling they can be addicted to alcohol or smoking also. The symptoms of gambling are such as there is a continuous need to gamble and this costs money where this often leads to stealing and the patient gets social problems as a result.

How does gambling and smoking is affected?

Since gambling includes all gambling behavior patterns that compromise, disrupt or damage personal, family or vocational pursuits and the essential features of gambling are increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, chasing losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences. While in extreme cases, problem gambling can result in financial ruin, legal problems, loss of career and family, or even suicide and these effects the family members, children, close friends, your job and also ruins your life.

Addiction of gambling and smoking:

In a recent study, published in the scientific journal, Addiction, reports that cigarette smoking is associated with an increased severity of gambling, most particularly in compulsive gamblers who are participating in a gambling treatment program and also the smokers agreed that they had little control over their gambling. They were more likely than non-smokers to be taking psychiatric medications and they experienced more psychiatric symptoms, especially anxiety, depression compared with non-smokers hence smoking and gambling are both addictive and compulsive behaviors where both can ruin the bliss of freedom to be productive, rather than self destructive.

All smoking is a gamble, isn't it and one in five smokers develops chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the risks of heart attack, stroke, and seven cancers, as well as other diseases such as macular degeneration, osteoporosis, and peripheral vascular diseases which are much higher in smokers than in non-smokers hence smoking is very dangerous for your health. Virtually all smokers die at a younger age than non-smokers, often more than 10 years, depending upon the age of starting smoking and the intensity of smoking throughout their lifetime also it is accepted that all of life is a gamble. And gambling as well as smoking sometimes adds jest to life but there is no joy in the bondage of tobacco addiction and the threat of loss of quality of length of life.

Gambling can also affect you family, good friends and your job where you can come down to depression and loose everything. Gambling is a game where you have to be careful since you can loose everything you have.

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