Yesterday I watched a video about addiction on youtube:
https://youtu.be/ao8L-0nSYzg. It was a real surprise to me that according to recent research people are addicted to drugs mainly because they can't bond well with people and are not able to live a satisfying life. The research shows that when an addicted person appears in a loving and caring environment, the addiction kind of disappears (even heroin addiction). I wonder what are your thoughts on this matter and whether you think you could say the same about gambling addiction.
Gambling addiction is different from drug addiction in terms of reasoning from someone who is into it. Addiction in gambling is because people are dissatisfied with what they already won in a gambling, and tend to lose it all even if they know they are not winning the game.
I think that gambling addiction is pretty similar to drug addiction, I mean it's the same chemicals that are released in the brain as when you do drugs.
What you're describing is a symptom of gambling addiction, not the root cause.
I'd say it's certainly possible that people turn to gambling and get addicted because they are dissatisfied with their life;
Actually, it's not, physical addiction takes place when certain chemicals (µ opioid agonists, such as alcohol, barbiturates, nicotine, etc.) bind to µ opioid receptors. And the chemicals that can be released when playing poker due to excitements are most likely catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine) which can only cause psychological dependence. So forget that myth once and for all.
Gambling can be sort of a distraction from your problems if you started to gamble before those problems emerged. But if one is already in trouble I think it's unlikely he will start gambling to get well.