Not all addictions involve substances. Gambling, in particular, can become a compulsive behaviour that has serious consequences for a person's finances, relationships, mental health, and housing — yet it is rarely a focus of support in homelessness services.
Gambling disorder is classified as an addictive disorder in international diagnostic frameworks. The mechanisms of addiction — the way reward pathways in the brain are activated, the build-up of tolerance, the difficulty stopping despite harmful consequences — operate in gambling just as they do in substance use.
For homelessness practitioners, understanding gambling disorder matters because it may be contributing to the financial difficulties, debt, relationship breakdown, and instability that underlie a person's housing situation — often without being visible or named.
This module draws on NHS information about gambling disorder. It is a Developing-level module within Subject 6: Substance Use and Recovery.