Personal Health
Both conditions typically produce medically diagnosable physiological withdrawal syndromes comparable in severity to opioid withdrawal.
Both disorders show evidence of dysregulation in mesolimbic dopamine pathways and elicit similar cue-induced neural activation associated with craving.
Pharmacotherapies approved and first-line for substance use disorders (e.g., methadone or buprenorphine) are widely effective and routinely recommended for a gambling disorder.
Tolerance and impaired control are diagnostic features that occur only in substance use disorders and are not part of the diagnostic criteria for a gambling disorder.