Impulsive: 6. Chasing Losses

About this episode

Lucy becomes addicted to gambling after trying her first scratchcard, leading to a spiraling problem exacerbated by her medication.

Lucy’s on her lunchbreak when she tries her first scratchcard - soon, she’s hooked. She’s never been interested in gambling before, but after a few months the glove compartment of her car is full of scratchcards. And then she starts gambling online… Lucy’s taking a medication called Aripiprazole for her mental health condition. It’s a partial dopamine agonist - a different mechanism to the dopamine agonist drugs used for Parkinson’s and Restless Legs Syndrome that we’ve heard about in previous episodes. But it’s got similar side effects. For Lucy, this means compulsive eating, hypersexuality - and a gambling problem that’s spiralling out of control. Details of organisations offering help and support with some of the issues raised are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline. If you have any concerns about medication you’re taking, speak to your doctor. Presenter: Noel Titheradge Producer: Lucy Burns Editor: Matt Willis A BBC News Long Form Audio production

People in this episode

Host: Noel Titheradge

Topics covered

• gambling addiction
• mental health
• compulsive behavior
• scratchcards
• online gambling
• medication effects

Keywords

• gambling
• scratchcard
• Aripiprazole
• mental health
• compulsive eating
• hypersexuality
• addiction support

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 4, BBC News Long Form Audio

Products: Aripiprazole

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