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I am very grateful to Dr. Niederland for this opportunity to extend my knowledge about gambling and also to revise some of my own ideas which I published over 20 years ago. I am in basic agreement with him and I believe that the gambler's gambling activities are an attempt to ward off an impending depression.
The success of the gambler in this struggle depends on the nature of his unconscious needs and defenses as well as on his external circumstances. It matters enormously whether the gambler turns to the gambling table at a time in his life when he is feeling successful and loved, or whether he turns to gambling in a state of impending depression.
Gambling differs from other contests and enterprises because of the co-existence of a gamelike quality and the importance of the element of chance in determining success or failure. The gamelike quality of gambling comes from the fact that the gambling activity is not to be taken seriously and not to be considered a replica of one's behavior in real life. On the surface, therefore, it is an opportunity to take off one's mask, although we know this is not ever completely possible. The unpredictability of results indicates that the element of risk is a crucial factor in gambling. This seems to be a characteristic mode of behavior for people of a depressive cast. They are willing to risk being hurt in any form of love relationship rather than to play it safe by withdrawing emotionally.
The neurotic gambler feels lucky and expects to be rewarded each time, his intellectual knowledge to the contrary. All gamblers are really testing out Luck and Fate. (I exclude professional gamblers from this category because they are not really gamblers but businessmen.) I believe we can deepen our understanding of this problem if we separate the gambler's reactions to Fate and Luck.
In my clinical experience, Fate is equated with God and the omnipotent father of early childhood. Luck is Lady Luck, a saint and mother. She, too, is omnipotent, bu