Pathological gambling: a behavioral addiction

Pathological gambling, also referred to as gambling disorder, has become the first recognized non‐substance behavioral addiction in the DSM‐5. In this classification, several disorders in the heterogeneous DSM‐IV category of Impulse Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified were reclassified based on data gathered during the time of DSM‐IV. However, the DSM‐5 classification has generated controversy, with some academic opinion being in favor of leaving pathological gambling in the chapter of impulse control disorders (see, for example, Grant et al1 in this journal).