The history of gambling and its intersection with technology,religion, medical science, and metaphors -- Pathological gambling as an idea: what does it mean?.- Pathological gambling up to the early twentieth century: sins, disease metaphors, and early efforts and medicalization -- Early to middle twentieth century: alcohol, denial, and the need for ascendancy -- The pendulum swings back.- Current situation and future directions -- Concluding discussion .

Peter Ferentzy and Nigel E. Turner The History of Problem Gambling: Temperance, Substance Abuse, Medicine, and Metaphors   This book documents the history of ideas about problem gambling and its link to addictive disorders. Using a combination of literature review and conceptual and linguistic analysis, The History of Problem Gambling explores how conceptions of problem gambling have changed over time.  Authors Ferentzy and Turner examine the religious, economic, socio-cultural, and medical influences on the development of the concept of problem gambling as a disease, along with the ways in which such ideas were influenced by attitudes towards substance abuse. The history of mental illness, notably as it pertains to themes such as loss of control over behavior, is also addressed. The book concludes with a discussion of problem gambling and addiction in general – their current status and future prospects – with an eye on which ideas about problem gambling seem most promising and which should perhaps be left behind. This book will be of interest to psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, addiction counselors, researchers, historians,  public health professionals, and also persons who have experienced problems with gambling or substance use.