Behavioral addiction is real, and treatable
Theodore Germanos, MDTriple board-certified — adult, child & adolescent, and addiction medicineGambling disorder is a recognized medical diagnosis, and the same reward circuitry drives compulsive trading, gaming, and other behavioral patterns that escalate past the point of control. These conditions respond to treatment. I am a psychiatrist board-certified in addiction medicine, and behavioral addiction — gambling above all — is a particular focus of my practice.
What counts as a behavioral addiction
Gambling disorder is the formally recognized diagnosis, but the architecture is broader: escalating time and money, chasing losses, hiding the extent of it, using the behavior to escape difficult feelings, and continuing despite real consequences. That pattern can attach to casino and sports betting, day trading and options speculation, gaming, shopping, and other behaviors. The label matters less than the pattern — if it is costing you and you cannot reliably stop, it deserves clinical attention.
Gambling and the markets
I trade my own account, and I treat traders. Compulsive trading often follows the same clinical architecture as gambling disorder — loss-chasing, escalation, secrecy — while looking, from the outside, like ambition. Because I know both worlds, the evaluation can be specific rather than generic. I also run Psychiatrade, a free educational screener for trading behavior, at psychiatrade.com.
How treatment works
It starts with an honest, unhurried evaluation — where things stand, what is driving the pattern, and what you want. Treatment draws on evidence-based psychotherapy for gambling and related disorders, care for the anxiety, depression, or ADHD that so often runs underneath, and medication when it is the right addition to treatment. The practice is private-pay and confidential by design; care happens by secure telehealth anywhere in California.
Apply
A short application — about 5–7 minutes, no card required.
Evaluation
A thorough diagnostic conversation.
Plan
Treatment built to fit, with unhurried follow-ups.
Is gambling addiction a real medical diagnosis?
Yes. Gambling disorder is a recognized psychiatric diagnosis, categorized alongside substance addictions because it shares the same underlying reward circuitry — and it has real, evidence-based treatments.
I trade the markets. How do I know if it has become a problem?
The useful questions are about pattern, not profit: chasing losses with bigger positions, trading to escape stress, hiding the extent from people close to you, and continuing despite mounting costs. An evaluation answers it properly. Psychiatrade, my free educational screener, is a private place to start — as is its write-up on day trading addiction.
Do you prescribe medication for behavioral addiction?
Treatment starts with the evaluation. Medication is used when it is the right addition to treatment — sometimes for the addiction itself, often for the anxiety, depression, or ADHD underneath it. Nothing is decided before evaluation.
Is this confidential?
Yes, within the standard legal limits of any medical care. Because the practice is private-pay, no insurer receives your diagnosis unless you choose to submit a superbill yourself.
Also see: Addiction medicine · Performance psychiatry · Telehealth psychiatry in California