XXII NATIONAL CONGRESS ITALIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION CLINICAL AND DYNAMIC SECTION LECCE -SEPTEMBER 17-19 2021 - POSTER SESSION

Introduction: The current reference nosography, which promotes the investigation of psychic phenomena starting from organic assumptions, has placed problem gambling among substance-related and addictive disorders, because these behaviors share some characteristics as the direct activation of the brain reward system. Method: The method of phenomenological psychopathology, which studies the body as lived (Leib) and not as an organism (Körper), aims to understand the life-world (Lebenswelt) of the gambler through the discovery of the meanings underlying the behavior of the individual and through the exploration of existentials a priori. Results: Beyond the explanations proposed by psychophysiological investigations, the phenomenological method has shown that the adherence to gambling behavior concerns the essential structure of the gambler: even before the feeling of emptiness that arises from the need to gamble, the gambler lives an existential emptiness that prevents the natural flow of the lived time, and this psychic disposition contributes to the repetition of the gambling behavior. Conclusions: Problem gambling should be understood as a particular form of mania defined as appetitive tension (Süchtigkeit) rather than a behavior caused by an impulsive solicitation. This change of perspective could favor the passage of the gambler from a passive role (addictus) to an active one from a therapeutic perspective.