Gambling disorder has traditionally been viewed as a problem of conscious choice and self-control. Yet, emerging evidence shows that gambling behavior is largely driven by subconscious neurocognitive processes that override stated intentions. This session explores how automatic reward appraisal, associative learning, cue-reactivity, and emotional tagging—along with phenomena such as near-misses, illusion of control, reward prediction errors, and temporal discounting—create treatment-resistant behavioral loops. By integrating neuroscience and clinical practice, the presentation reframes gambling disorder as primarily governed by implicit cognition and offers strategies to target these hidden mechanisms, improving treatment engagement and long-term outcomes for those struggling to stop gambling.
