Dealing With Dopamine: Inside the Mind of a Gambling Addict

Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams fired off a sobering salvo on X on Sunday, warning that sports betting is the new opioid crisis.

Adams held the post from 2017 to 2021 and helped the country navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

I’ve always been curious about why the majority of people who bet don’t develop a gambling addiction, but how the devastating effects of the disease are seemingly on display every day.

It was during the pandemic that Dr. Timothy Fong addressed that reality at a time when gambling was on the rise.

“It’s the same as what causes any other addiction. It’s a combination of biological risk factors, psychological risk factors, and social risk factors,” said Fong, a clinical professor of psychiatry & co-director of UCLA’s Gambling Studies Program. “It can be someone with a family history of addiction; someone who has untreated mental health problems like depression, anxiety, ADHD; or someone who is around a lot of gambling, with access to money, and it sets up a recipe as to why people fall into problems.”

‘A Powerful, Powerful Addicton’

The science behind gambling addiction says dopamine is the main culprit. The neurotransmitter becomes nasty when an addict’s brain can’t cope without the rush that comes from betting.

“For me, it was about just having the action,” former trial attorney Chris Swett told CasinoBeats in an exclusive interview this week. “I would get the dopamine hit when I placed the bet, and then, the entire time I’m tracking the progress of the slate of games, I’m getting that roller-coaster dopamine hit. I move from first place to last place, you go down, and get another dopamine hit.”

Swett lost his career and will be heading to federal prison soon because of this addiction. Fellow recovering gambling addict Mathew Bowyer told CasinoBeats earlier this year that he has “a tough time between finding a dopamine rush and winning, and at what cost.” 

Swett and Bowyer were both exposed to gambling at an early age. The latter ran a book and poker ring out of his mom’s house at 16. Swett was introduced to gambling by his father.

“I was around gambling from an early age, and it all seemed pretty normal to me,” he said. “My dad gambled, and he was the chief of police, and everyone who was powerful in the county, state senators, judges, and attorneys, they’d all come every Wednesday night to his poker game.”

When Swett turned 16, his father gave him a seat at the table.

“So, I always viewed gambling as just something that was normal,” he said. “I certainly didn’t view it as a slippery slope or anything that could be dangerous. It’s just a normal thing that people do for recreation.”

That’s true for most people. Obviously, Swett now views things in a much different light. Asked what he understands about gambling addiction now that he couldn’t possibly have understood before going through it, he covered a lot of ground in his response.

“It is a powerful, powerful addiction, and every day I craved that hit,” he said. “I’d wake up looking at my phone to see what was on the next slate. Literally, I was on my phone every 10 to 15 minutes every day, constantly checking my phone, doing something related to the injuries or related to the gambling, just to keep that hit coming constantly.

“I really think it needs to be studied more, recognized more. It should be treated the same as any substance addiction. I really do believe that.”

Louis Ruggiero is another recovering addict who shared his redemption story with CasinoBeats this year.

“I was so addicted to gambling because that had become my identity,” he said. “That had become my persona. I was the gambler. I was the guy. I had the planes to Vegas. I had the bookie with a $500,000 a week credit limit. I was that guy in my group of friends, but I was also the guy that nobody knew, who hated himself, and was lying and cheating. Everything was smoke and mirrors, and it was built on a fucking house of cards.”

Ruggiero added, “When we talk about the gravity of this addiction and this disease, I’m not the only one. My story is not unique.”

It’s notable that Ruggiero, Bowyer, and Swett are all now active in helping others struggling with the disease. You can check the links below to learn from their respective journeys.

Ruggiero: Nothing’s Off the Table Podcast

Bowyer: MathewBowyer.com

Swett: Writing from the Inside Substack & Podcast

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 Former US Surgeon General Jerome Adams fired off a sobering salvo on X on Sunday, warning that sports betting is the new opioid crisis. Adams held the post from 2017 to 2021 and helped the country navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve always been curious about why the majority of people who bet don’t develop a
The post Dealing With Dopamine: Inside the Mind of a Gambling Addict appeared first on CasinoBeats.