A University of Iowa researcher says all his work still hasn’t gotten him to the root cause of what makes problem gamblers tick. Donald Black says “Yes and No” to the question as he says after 10 years of studying pathological gamblers, Black says it still baffles him as to why people will essentially bankrupt themselves just to gamble. Black, a professor of psychiatry, says his studies have taught him some things about gamblers. Black says he’s learned a lot about treatments and a couple of small genetic studies have confirmed that the gambling problems do run in families, and are often accompanied by drug and alcohol abuse problems. Black continues trying to probe the minds of problem gamblers and hopes to unlock even more of their secrets. Black says early psychological studies have shown that pathological gamblers do indeed think differently than non-gamblers, and he hopes the studies he’s doing now will be more definitive. Black is looking for more volunteers with a gambling problem for his studies. You can find out more by contacting the Iowa Gambling Research Center at 319-384-4600 or [email protected]
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