<story><title>What goes wrong in the brain chemistry of a gambling addict?</title><url>http://nautil.us/issue/40/learning/addicted-to-anticipation</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>ajankovic</author><text>I hate gambling but observing some recent changes in my behaviour this sentence strike a chord:&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The high is in expecting an outcome, desiring it, imagining it, not in its fulfillment.&lt;p&gt;I am staring at unfinished side projects of mine and they are staring back at me.</text></comment>
<story><title>What goes wrong in the brain chemistry of a gambling addict?</title><url>http://nautil.us/issue/40/learning/addicted-to-anticipation</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>js8</author><text>&amp;quot;But since addiction is defined as compulsive behavior that continues in the face of punishment, punishment is clearly not the best way to deal with it. Dozens of studies show that shame, confrontation, and humiliation are ineffective and can backfire when used in addiction treatment.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;I suspect this is case with many things, that punishment is ineffective. Punishment ultimately assumes people are acting rationally, and they often do not.</text></comment>