ISLAM AND THE WEST - 70

 For some people gambling turns into an addiction. At the risk of over-simplifying things, there is a specific part of the brain called the Pleasure Centre or Reward Centre. It gets stimulated when we do something we enjoy, and with repeated engagement in that activity over a period, it gets sensitised to that activity, and gets stimulated to a greater and greater extent when we engage in that activity. If we stop engaging in that activity after a long time, it feels as if we are missing something in life because that Pleasure Centre is not getting stimulated. Alcohol is a good example. Brains of people who drink heavily over a long period of times become sensitised to the pleasure producing effects of alcohol, and that is why for people whose pleasure comes almost exclusively from alcohol, it is so difficult to give it up, and why they relapse so quickly if they drink only one drink even after months of absence. It is because their Pleasure Centre gets stimulated to a much greater extent by that one drink, than the brain of someone who drinks only occasionally, and does not get stimulated by any other stimulus.