Gambling addiction is a type of impulse-control disorder. Compulsive gamblers can’t control the impulse to gamble, even when they know their habit is hurting themselves or their loved ones.
Gambling is all they can think about and all they want to do, no matter the consequences. Compulsive gamblers keep spending whether they’re up or down, broke or flush, happy or depressed. Even when they know the odds are against them, even when they can’t afford to lose, people with a gambling addiction can’t “keep away.”