Determining the gender of a pathological gambler when describing the clinical profile of this patient is a good means to develop more specific and effective treatments. This is so given that in the past few years pathological gamblers are no longer only middle-aged men. Adolescents and women currently also manifest gambling addiction patterns and it is women in particular who demonstrate clearly marked clinical and personality differences. Thus for example the clinical presentation of a woman with a gambling addiction includes anxiety, low self-esteem and inability to manage external conflicts. Her addiction therefore becomes a rather effective form of evasion. There are other gender differences, as well as similarities, but the results explained in this article point out that identifying these differential mechanisms in the behavioural pattern of a male or female gambler is a good starting point in the treatment of this disorder.
