Conjoint inpatient treatment of pathological gambling and addiction syndrome: needs, experiences and attitudes of patients

Pathological gambling brings serious impacts on an individual, his or her surroundings and the society in the areas of economics, intellectual, physical and social health. In the Czech Republic about 40,000 - 80,000 adults are threatened by pathological gambling, however the actual amount of treated adults is only about 2.5 - 5% of the total year estimate. The reason behind this number can be the fact that in the Czech Repulic pathological gambling is treated together with substance addiction in most of the therapy centers. In the beginning of the theoretical part the concept of 'pathological gambling' is defined and the prevalence and the number of treated patients with the diagnosis of pathological gambling is shown along with the availability of electronic gaming devices in the Czech Republic and abroad. Furthermore, etiological context, pathogenesis, and some diagnostic aspects of pathological gambling are described. The theoretical part further compares pathological gambling with substance addiction and the treatments of pathological gambling and introduces the treatments of other addictions in the healthcare system in the Czech Republic. The goal of the empirical part of the thesis is to find out and describe different and similar features of patients with the diagnosis of pathological..