Pathological gambling

Pathological gambling is a major psychiatric disorder that causes significa nt distress to sufferers, their families, and society. Pathological gamblin g shares characteristics with addiction and obsessive-compulsive spectrum d isorders and is comorbid with conditions such as affective disorders, subst ance-abuse disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Research on pathological gambling has begun to demonstrate that pathophysiologic ro le of several neurotransmitter systems in the disorder. The information pre sented is important to understanding the background and significance of pat hological gambling and the direction in which future research should procee d.