Pathological gambling

Pathological gambling is a major psychiatric disorder that causes significant distress to sufferers, their families, and society. Pathological gambling shares characteristics with addiction and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders and is comorbid with conditions such as affective disorders, substance-abuse disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Research on pathological gambling has begun to demonstrate that pathophysiologic role of several neurotransmitter systems in the disorder. The information presented is important to understanding the background and significance of pathological gambling and the direction in which future research should proceed.