[Online-gambling - new hazard potential?].

Since the new American psychiatric classification, DSM V, was released, bringing together substance-related disorders and gambling disorder into one chapter, the addictive potential of gambling and sports wagering is beyond all question. Even the neurobiological processes of the brain show similarities in all addictive disorders. Gambling is more and more shifted into the cyberspace owing to the global expansion of the internet. The addictive potential of online-gambling seems to be higher than offline, though, which is also reflected by the patient population of the outpatient clinic for gambling addiction in Linz. This fact poses a challenge for the persons affected, therapists, gambling providers, legislator the society as a whole.