How Gambling Can Lead to Other Addictions

October 20, 2025

Gambling addiction rarely travels alone. For many people, the compulsive urge to gamble becomes intertwined with other harmful habits — such as alcohol or drug use, overeating, shopping, or even risky sexual behaviors.

Understanding how gambling can open the door to additional addictions is crucial for achieving holistic recovery.

The Overlapping Biology of Addiction

At a neurological level, many addictions — whether behavioral or chemical — share common reward and reinforcement pathways. Gambling, like substance use, activates the brain’s reward circuitry, particularly involving dopamine release in areas such as the ventral striatum.

Over time, the brain may crave more intense or frequent stimuli to recreate that same “rush.” This process of neuroadaptation can make someone already vulnerable to gambling more likely to develop additional addictive behaviors.

Some researchers refer to this as the “addiction syndrome” or “common liability” model — the idea that various addictions share overlapping biological, psychological, and social risk factors. Vanyukov et al., 2012, Psychiatry Research, PMC3600369

Prevalence of Co-occurring Disorders

Research consistently shows a strong connection between gambling disorder and other forms of addiction or mental-health conditions.

- Up to 94% of people with gambling problems will have at least one co-occurring mental-health or addiction disorder, including substance use, depression, or anxiety. Source: New York Council on Problem Gambling, 2021

- Among individuals diagnosed with lifetime pathological gambling:
   - 73.2% had an alcohol use disorder
   - 60.4% had nicotine dependence
   - 38.1% had a drug use disorder. Source: Petry N.M., Stinson F.S., Grant B.F., Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2005

- In population-based surveys, problem gamblers are significantly more likely than non-gamblers to report daily tobacco use, hazardous alcohol use, or other behavioral addictions, such as compulsive shopping or gaming. Source: Håkansson A., Ford M., PLOS ONE, 2020

These findings show that gambling rarely exists in isolation; co-occurring addictions are the norm, not the exception.

Why the Link Happens

Emotional self-medication

Gambling losses, loneliness, guilt, and shame can create intense emotional distress. Many individuals turn to substances or other compulsive behaviors to numb or escape those feelings.

— See Potenza M.N., 2013, American Journal of Psychiatry

Cross-tolerance and escalation

As gambling no longer delivers the same level of reward, a person might seek stronger or faster-acting stimuli, such as alcohol or drugs, to reproduce the dopamine surge.

Shared risk factors
Traits like impulsivity, sensation-seeking, low distress tolerance, and genetic predisposition can increase susceptibility to multiple addictions simultaneously.

— See Verdejo-García A. et al., 2008, Addiction Biology

Life stressors and triggers

Financial hardship, relationship breakdowns, and trauma linked to gambling can push individuals toward other harmful habits as coping mechanisms.

Toward Integrated Recovery

To genuinely support people struggling with gambling and potential secondary addictions, recovery must be integrated and holistic — addressing all concurrent issues, not just the most visible one.

How Incumental can help:

- Provide screening for multiple addiction types (gambling, substances, and behavioral).

- Curate recovery resources that address overlapping issues (e.g., coping strategies, therapy, mental-health tools).

- Encourage users to adopt a system-wide recovery mindset, recognizing that addiction is rarely isolated — it’s interconnected.

References

- New York Council on Problem Gambling (2021). Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorder Data Summary.

https://nyproblemgambling.org/resource-lib-item/co-occurring-substance-use-disorder-data-compilation/

- Petry N.M., Stinson F.S., Grant B.F. (2005). Comorbidity of DSM-IV Pathological Gambling and Other Psychiatric Disorders. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 66(5), 564–574.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15889941/

- Håkansson A., Ford M. (2020). Problem Gambling and Associations with Comorbid Health Conditions, Substance Use, and Behavioural Addictions. PLOS ONE.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0227644

- Vanyukov M. et al. (2012). Common Liability to Addiction and “Gateway” Hypothesis. Psychiatry Research. PMC3600369.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3600369/

- Potenza M.N. (2013). Biological Contributions to Addictions: Neuroimaging Findings. American Journal of Psychiatry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23820605/

- Verdejo-García A. et al. (2008). Impulsivity and Decision-Making in Addictions. Addiction Biology.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18782383/