In the News

The Scientific Advisory Board of the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) is pleased to invite grant applications for research that explores the full spectrum of gambling behaviors from healthy to disordered. In addition, we are specifically interested in policy-relevant research. We invite applicants from a wide range of disciplines to apply, including economics, public health, cultural anthropology, neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry and public policy. This request for applications (RFA) is in effect for both Large Grant and Seed Grant applicants, Jan. 1, 2019 - Dec.

Research by two NCRG-funded investigators has recently received broad media coverage. Marc Potenza, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the Yale Center of Excellence in Gambling Research, was the senior author of an article published in the high-impact journal JAMA Psychiatry in February 2015. This twin study sheds new light on the relationship between gambling disorder and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The study finds that individuals with severe obsessive-compulsive behaviors — or those who demonstrate specific forms of the behavior, such as fear of germs or desire for order in the environment — are also more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for gambling disorder.

Self-exclusion programs are a player-initiated, voluntary form of exclusion that provides gamblers with the opportunity to ban themselves from gambling venues as a tool to reduce or stop excessive gambling. New Jersey just announced that its self-exclusion program will be expanded to include gamblers who wager on the Internet. But what is known about the safety and effectiveness of self-exclusion? And, will it work for online gamblers?

A part of the NCRG’s outreach strategy is to attend and exhibit at meetings that help increase the awareness of gambling disorders among other co-occurring disorders, such as substance use problems. NCRG Senior Research Director Christine Reilly is exhibiting at the Research Society on Alcoholism’s annual meeting from June 22 to 26 and is visiting with many NCRG-funded researchers. Below is her take on the meeting so far.

On Monday May 20, Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), reported on new research findings and treatment opportunities at an hour-long lecture for the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting. Because of the high rate of co-occurring addictive disorders among individuals with a gambling disorder, it is important to keep abreast of new developments in the field of substance use disorders.

Has the reclassification of gambling disorder as a addictive behavior in the the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) opened the floodgates to other non-substance based addictions? The American Psychiatric Association (APA) announced yesterday that Internet Gaming Disorder is identified in Section III of the DSM-5 as a condition warranting more clinical research and experience before it might be considered for inclusion in the main book as a formal disorder.

To clarify the various revisions in the American Psychiatric Association's fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) relating to gambling disorders, the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) authored a white paper, titled "The Evolving Defintion of Pathological Gambling in the DSM-5." Below is an excerpt of that white paper that outlines the specific changes. For a free download of the white paper, visit www.ncrg.org/resources/white-papers. 

To coincide with the release of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the APA developed a conference track consisting of more than 10 sessions to educate clinicians about the changes to the new diagnostic code. The first session, titled “Substance Use Disorders in DSM-5,” featured leaders of the DSM-5 work group in charge of substance use and related conditions who presented an overview of the DSM-5 changes and some of the controversies the committee faced when reviewing the new manual.

Drs. Lieberman, Kupfer and Regier announce the launch of the DSM-5

As the release of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) looms, more than 13,000 psychiatrists descended upon San Francisco, Calif. For the APA, the first order of business was to launch the DSM-5 and answer the many questions about the revisions – and controversy – of this much-anticipated publication.

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) last week, many experts have weighed in on the practical implications of this legislation regarding the prevention and treatment of addictive disorders. From federal entities such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to national mental health organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the statements issued clearly examine the overall impact of the ACA on mental health treatment. How does this historic ruling relate the field of addictions? The experts suggest the answer lies in three applications: integration of services, enhancing prevention initiatives and a new model of recovery services.