Gambling Addiction and Mental Health
Gambling addiction and mental health conditions are deeply intertwined. For some, ADHD, depression, or anxiety come first, and gambling starts as a way to self-medicate. For others, the mental health struggle follows the gambling, driven by mounting losses, secrecy, and shame. Often it runs both directions at once.
Whichever came first, treating gambling while ignoring the underlying condition leaves the door open for relapse. And the reverse is just as common: we regularly see people who completed treatment for depression or anxiety only to show up months later because their gambling was never screened for or treated. The pages below cover the conditions we most often see paired with gambling addiction and how treatment addresses both together.
