Pathological gambling is often undiagnosed or overlooked and often takes the intervention of friends or family members to encourage a person with a gambling addiction to seek help. The first step in diagnosing a gambling addiction is to visit a psychiatrist for an in depth mental health evaluation. This process can help identify the magnitude of the gambling behavior.
A patient must meet at least five or more of the following criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Preoccupation with gambling, higher amounts of money is needed to achieve desired excitement, gambling continues despite repeated efforts to control behavior, Restless or irritable when trying to refrain from gambling, Uses gambling as a way to be in a good mood and gambles to recoup losses.
They can also lie to family members and to their therapist to conceal gambling behavior. This person will also steals money in order to continue gambling while they put relationships and their job in danger.