WHAT WE TREAT
Overcoming a gambling addiction can feel overwhelming, but it’s important to remember that recovery is possible. Our treatment programme is designed to be practical and supportive, focusing on harm reduction and providing a personalised approach. We work with you to create a treatment plan that fits your unique needs, giving you the tools and support to break free from the cycle of addiction and move towards lasting recovery.
Gambling addiction, also called compulsive gambling or gambling disorder, is the uncontrollable urge to keep gambling despite the toll it takes on your life. An individual’s need to feel ‘high’ can lead them to gamble more money than they want to or can afford to. This process can result in engulfed relationships, grave financial loss, and difficult feelings such as shame, guilt or dismay. It is classed as a behavioural addiction, as the individual becomes addicted to the process or set of behaviours associated with gambling.
There is no one single root cause of gambling addiction. Excessive gambling activates the brain’s reward system in a similar manner to drugs by releasing more and more dopamine, which draws an individual to the activity. Genetic predispositions for reward-seeking behaviours and impulsivity, environmental, psychological and biological factors all play a role in making an individual increasingly dependent upon those dopamine hits.
In addition to the financial instability often caused by a gambling dependency, it can also increase a person’s likelihood of experiencing depression, migraines, intestinal disorders, and anxiety-related issues due to the stress caused by addiction. Gambling addiction is also highly co-occurring with mental health disorders such as bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Through our combination of medical, psychological and personal care, we are proud to be the only clinic in the world that addresses co-occurring conditions and every possible root-cause of gambling addiction. In so doing, we can help you recover in a matter of weeks, rather than years or months.
bespoke treatment
How we treat gambling addiction
We can’t tell you exactly what your four-week stay will involve because each patient’s experience of gambling addiction is deeply personal and unique. Our patients have no pre-defined treatment path; everyone who comes to stay at Paracelsus Recovery receives a bespoke treatment plan.
Your time with us is thoughtfully structured to include handpicked therapeutic elements designed to help you overcome your gambling addiction. From withdrawal to intensive therapy, every step is tailored to you. These therapies work in conjunction with one another to help you regain control, restore your health, and rebuild your life step by step. See below for more details.
Our approach considers the whole person: mind, body and soul
While our approach prioritises cutting-edge modalities and holistic care, your unique needs ultimately guide our work together.
Our 360-degree treatment approach begins with extensive testing to uncover why you have developed a gambling addiction and what to do to put an end to it. We design a treatment path from here that features a unique blend of cutting-edge therapies tailored to you. For gambling addiction, these typically include biofeedback, bioresonance, nutritional therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), sleep therapies, and art therapy.
In all cases, we go beyond addressing the root causes of you gambling addiction, focusing also on the effects, from neurological to physical damage, that often result from dependencies. These are treated in tandem with the underlying factors contributing to your addiction. Our treatments typically involve intensive psychotherapy, biochemical restoration, and complementary therapies, all aimed at reducing stress and supporting your recovery.
15+ team members, all dedicated to your health and well-being
A team of more than 15 experts will be dedicated solely to you and your health. This includes a personal psychiatrist, medical doctor, addiction specialists, and a live-in therapist who will be available for emotional support and therapeutic assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No matter the unique blend of treatments you receive, they will be delivered with the Swiss medical excellence we are known for.
Comprehensive programmes as unique as you are
Our approach is highly pragmatic, non-judgemental, and built upon our pillar of harm reduction, meaning the decision to completely remove gambling from your life is entirely yours.
We can provide treatment for gambling addiction and any co-occurring dependencies and mental health conditions at our private treatment centre in Zurich.
FURTHER READING
