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Article
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Pathological gambling
Article By:
Bellegarde, Jennifer D. Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Potenza, Marc N. Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
Last reviewed:2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB081660
By definition, gambling is the process of placing something of value (usually money) at risk in the hope of gaining something of greater value. Excessive forms of gambling have been described as compulsive, problematic, or pathological, among other terms. Pathological gambling (PG) is the diagnostic term adopted by the American Psychiatric Association. Along with kleptomania, pyromania, intermittent explosive disorder (aggressive outbursts that can be violent or destructive and that are out of proportion to any possible provocation or stimulus), and trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling), PG is classified as an “Impulse control disorder not elsewhere classified.”
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