[Gambling disorder and alcohol use disorder -- similarities and differences]

Abstract

Gambling disorder has been listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for more than three decades. During this time, its diagnostic set of criteria has gone through significant changes. In the DSM-5, gambling disorder has been moved from Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders to Substance- Related and Addictive Disorders, which acknowledges and expresses that gambling disorder has similar features compared to substance related disorders. The aim of the present review is to reveal the reasons behind this category replacement, and to examine the similarities between gambling disorder and alcohol dependence from the perspectives of symptomatology, etiology and epidemiology.