THE flashing lights and jaunty music from poker machines trick the human brain into thinking its winning even when it's losing, neuroscience has shown. The effects of gambling on the brain can be similar to the impact of taking drugs, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has said.
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Bendigo Anglicare is eager to share the research with the community to break down the stigma around addiction and encourage people to seek free financial counselling and mental health support.
It will hold an online forum today (Thursday) to discuss the neuroscience and explain how gambling affects individuals, and their loved ones, when an addiction takes hold.
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Paul Rankin, team leader for the Anglicare gamblers' help division in Bendigo, said it was important to understand the science behind addiction.
"We want people to understand how an addiction can develop,'' he said.
"Gambling addiction is medically classified as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM5). It is an illness.
"With the pokies in particular, the lights are going and the music's on even if you've bet $1.20 and received $1 back. It makes you think you've won when you've actually lost 20 cents."
Neuroscientist at the University of Melbourne Dr Jared Cooney Horvath has made some short videos for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, which show the results of brain imaging scans from addicts.
The results have shed some light on why gamblers feel the compulsion to chase their losses and why they experienced difficulty attaining the highs they experienced when they first started gambling.
He said the brain released the feel-good chemical dopamine when people had a gambling win.
"However when you gamble often the same chemical gets released when you get a near miss,'' he said.
"Most gambling isn't like sports or academics. It doesn't matter how hard you try or how much you practice, the odds won't change."
"It's important to understand how gambling affects you because the more you understand, the easier it is to change."
The free forum is on Thursday, October 21 from 2pm to 2.40pm. To register click here or email joanne.parker@anglicarevic.org.au
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