In nature, rewards usually come only with time and effort.
Gambling provide a shortcut, flooding the brain with dopamine and other neurotransmitters.
Our brains do not have an easy way to withstand the onslaught. Gambling can release two to 10 times the amount of dopamine that natural rewards do, and they do it more quickly and more reliably.
In a person who becomes addicted, brain receptors become overwhelmed.
The brain responds by producing less dopamine or eliminating dopamine receptors—an adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise becomes too loud.
As a result of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brain’s reward center.
Over time, the brain adapts in a way that actually makes gambling less pleasurable. They have to gamble more to obtain the same dopamine “high” because their brains have adapted—an effect known as tolerance.
The worst thing that ever happen to me was winning some money, I ended up spending more money trying to replicate the feeling.
