Guidelines for treating people with co-occurring gambling and psychoactive substance-use disorders – a review of literature

Introduction:
Studies indicate an increased risk of gambling disorders in the population with psychoactive substance-use disorders. The purpose of this article is to discuss recommendations for the treatment of those with gambling disorders co-occurring with psychoactive substance-use disorders.

Material and methods:
A literature review was conducted using the EBSCO database. A combination of keywords was used, taking into account the purpose of the review. In addition, a Google Scholar search was performed using the same combinations. A total of 15 articles corresponding to the topic of the review were identified.

Results:
Proposed approaches for people with co-occurring gambling and substance-use disorders are those that also work well for personality disorders like Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) or Dual Focus Schema Therapy. As for non-psychological methods, positive results in patients have been observed following the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Discussion:
The articles reviewed suggest the need for a personalised approach that allows focusing on the patient’s specific problems. The use of existing therapeutic approaches that have worked well with patients who have been diagnosed with early maladaptive schemas, high levels of impulsivity and increased resistance to therapy is usually suggested. The use of screening tests, both in treatment aimed at gambling problems and in treatment of substance use disorders, would allow therapy to be planned at an early stage and respond to the patient’s needs in the best possible way.

Conclusions:
The analysed articles refer to therapies used for the treatment of co-occurring substance use and personality disorders, hence the need to plan experiments that would test the effectiveness of these therapies for individuals with specific co-occurring substance-use and gambling disorders.