[Pathological gambling : conceptual evolution, clinical characteristics and psychotherapeutical perspectives]

Gambling is a common activity among almost all societies. Forms of gambling have been present all along history, but new gambling behaviours seem to emerge since the development of internet, in a way that we can consider that society has never offered so many opportunities of developing addictive behaviours. Social representations of sin, deviance and crime associated with gambling in the past have disappeared. Gambling now falls within the scope of widespread amusement and socially acceptable activities, whose benefits are not negligible. However, gambling and its impact on individuals who give themselves over to it can be understood as a psychiatric disorder characterized by a loss of control, whose nature and exact place within psychiatric nosology are constantly questioned. Individual as well as group psychotherapeutic care modalities exist. Cognitive-behavioural therapies and their current developments are presented in this article.