Books About Gambling Addiction

The Best Literature Resources on Gambling Addiction

Gambling addiction is a complicated and misunderstood condition that can ruin families, relationships, and finances, and leave someone entirely destitute.

A compulsive gambler is diagnosed with a behavioral disorder, sharing many of the same psychological aspects with a drug addict, including the way gambling addiction hijacks the brain’s reward systems.

Whether you’re someone with gambling habits, quietly living as a compulsive gambler, a family member of someone looking to overcome gambling addiction, or a counselor seeking additional resources through a gambling addiction book, the following list provides a powerful source of understanding, healing, and hope.

Our expert clinicians believe that books about gambling addiction offer more than just scientific facts; they help instill resilience, tools for change, and emotional validation when it’s needed most.

Keep reading to explore some of the best gambling addiction books with Icarus Behavioral Health in Nevada, and find out how we can support progress and growth for those seeking gambling addiction recovery.

Why Gambling Addiction Books Matter During Recovery

For those impacted by gambling addiction, education is an essential step if they’re looking to break free from compulsive gambling. Whether it’s a standard book chronicling gambling addicts, a gambling addiction recovery workbook, or other pertinent information on gambling habits, these books provide the following:

Self Education

Books provide you with the framework to understand gambling addiction behaviors and their triggers. They show that gambling addicts don’t engage in this risky behavior as a character flaw; they suffer from a treatable addictive behavior.

Emotional Validation

Reading memoirs about a brutally honest story by a former gambler or a gambling addiction workbook reassures those in gambling recovery that they are not alone. They also normalize the emotional rollercoaster of recovery.

Practical Tools

Many of the books on gambling disorder issues contain textbook-style worksheets, daily meditations, and strategies for coping with urges and preventing relapse.

Family Support

Books with gambling disorder content help families understand the dynamics of problem gambling and help navigate the process of setting boundaries and offering support without enabling.

Best Books for Individuals Struggling with Gambling Addiction

These are some of the best choices for those looking to understand their gambling disorder better or break free from sports betting.

1. “Addiction by Design” by Natasha Dow Schüll

This book is about a groundbreaking exploration of how slot machines and electronic gaming devices are engineered to maximize player engagement and addiction.

Schüll’s work uncovers the crossroads of technology, psychology, and gambling addiction, offering profound insight into why quitting isn’t just a matter of willpower.

Why It’s Powerful:

It helps readers understand how external factors influence behavior and validate the challenges of overcoming problem gambling.

What You’ll Learn:

• Learn how machines are designed to influence compulsive behavior and hidden addiction in players.
• Discover the mental impact of the “machine zone” on gamblers.
• Understand the relationship between technology and problem gambling.
• Explore the ethical implications of the gambling industry practices.
• Gain insights into the social struggle of a gambling disorder and lasting recovery.

The Atlantic Editors’ ‘The Best Book I Read This Year’ for 2013

2. “Overcoming Problem Gambling: A Guide for Problem and Compulsive Gamblers” by Philip Mawer

Philip Mawer presents a practical, easy-to-follow program to help problem gamblers regain control of their lives. The program features real-life stories, checklists, and strategies to help you stay on track.

Why It’s Powerful:

It’s structured, hopeful, and full of actionable advice that supports both early recovery and long-term maintenance.

What You’ll Learn:

• Helps those with gambling addiction reclaim their lives.
• Learn all about problem gambling in the United Kingdom and how it’s on the rise.
• Help young people gain the self-awareness to stop gambling and avoid falling victim to gambling addiction at an early age.
• Discover the changing behaviors and habits of individuals who fall into a life of problem gambling.

3. “The Girl Gambler” by Stacey Goodwin

This is the story of a young girl’s entrapment in gambling addiction. In this personal, heartfelt story, you’ll learn about problem gambling and how it controlled her every move, thought, and ultimately, almost took her life.

It also touches on the guilt and shame that go hand in hand with addiction and how it stopped her from reaching out for help for eight long years, as she didn’t feel it was “OK” for a young female to be a gambling addict. She believed it was a male-dominated problem. However, she eventually finds the tools that enable her to become free from her addiction.

Why It’s Powerful:

This is a rare glimpse into the world of problem gambling by young women, chronicling real-life experiences for younger women wrestling with the chains of gambling and betting addiction. It also highlights the internal battle that goes on inside the author’s head, outlining how she breaks free from the internal struggle and presumptions regarding females in the gambling industry.

What You’ll Learn:

• Learn about the psychological impact of gambling addiction on individuals and families.
• Discover powerful strategies to overcome a gambling disorder and find support groups.
• Understand the social stigmas that surround female gamblers and the impact it has on women in the gambling and betting underworld.
• Explore the author’s journey and the tools she used to recover.
• Recognize the importance of passing along success stories to help those who face identical problems.

4. “Gambling Addiction – Your Custom-Tailored Book” by TailoredRead

Learn Gambling Addiction faster with an e-book tailor-made for you by state-of-the-art AI. The AI used to create the vast knowledge base on Gambling Addiction delivers a custom-tailored book in approximately 10 minutes. This tailored book addresses your unique interests, knowledge level, goals, and background.

Available for online reading, PDF download, and Kindle, this custom book provides personalized insights to help you learn faster, double your knowledge, and achieve all your goals related to gambling knowledge. Embark on your Gambling Addiction learning journey with a personalized book made just for you by advanced AI.

Why It’s Powerful:

This book is so powerful because it allows you to craft your own AI journey based on what you require to help you get over the gambling or betting hump. Choose from multiple topics and knowledge sources, and have your custom-crafted content regarding everything you wanted to know about problem gambling.

What You’ll Learn:

• Own your Gambling Addiction book that caters to your interests, goals, and personal issues.
• Receive a book that matches your background exactly and level of knowledge on problem gambling.
• Choose the topics that only you want to learn and exclude the issues you aren’t as interested in or already have full knowledge of.
• Define your learning goals, and let the book guide you directly to accomplishing them through a customized navigational experience.
• Get everything you wanted to know broken down into a single book focused on the most critical lessons on gambling behavior.

5. “Behind the 8-Ball: A Recovery Guide for Families of Gamblers” by Linda Berman and Marry-Ellen Siegel

Although this book is written with families in mind, it can also prove to be equally valuable to individuals in recovery from problem gambling. In this book, you’ll find the emotional, relational, and financial dynamics at play in someone with active gambling addiction.

What makes it stand out is the learning tools that families receive, and how it covers the other side of gambling addiction, teaching families how to cope with the pain and trust issues that come with loving someone with a gambling or betting habit.

Why It’s Powerful

This powerful book highlights how addiction impacts everyone, not just the gambler. You’ll find insight into healing fractured relationships, in addition to methods that the individual with the addiction can use to help them overcome their challenges, using their families as support pillars.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to navigate the issue of problem gambling from the family’s point of view, helping them learn compassion and understanding to help a loved one through the most difficult challenges of recovery.
• Learn the warning signs that one displays once they’ve fallen into a gambling habit.
• Gain a better understanding of how gambling impacts the family as a whole, including the children and significant others.
• In addition to providing the families with a wealth of knowledge on gambling, you’ll find plenty of information that makes the book just as applicable for the individual struggling with the addiction.

How to Use Books In Your Recovery Journey

Reading about gambling addiction alone won’t cure your challenges with betting or gambling. However, it can provide critical literature that you need to accompany therapy provided at facilities like Icarus Behavioral in Nevada.

The books aren’t just for solo use. Families can study them together, making them an excellent foundation for peer support while simultaneously allowing individuals to engage in self-healing work.

Tips for Using These Books Effectively:

• Journal while you read. Reflect on personal connections, emotions, and insights that manifest while you’re on your literary journey.
• Discuss the information contained within the books in therapy. Bring key passages to group meetings or discussions with your counselor to help you gain a deeper understanding of topics you struggle with.
• Use them to inspire daily practices. Daily readers can use them as motivational tools in the morning and as an evening recovery ritual before bed.

Icarus Nevada Offers Evidence-Based Treatment for Gambling

At Icarus Behavioral Health in Las vegas, we strongly recommend combining the knowledge you gain from these books with the therapy you receive at our facility in Nevada.

Using both together, along with private support groups and family support, can give you the head start you need on a successful road to recovery.

At our Joint Commission-accredited facilities, you (or your loved one) will find the support needed to overcome a gambling problem. Reach out for a confidential consultation today!