[Psychic experience of pathological machine gamblers].

The author presents results of the psychopathological phenomena and subjective experience study of 38 patients with the verified diagnosis "Pathological addiction to gambling" (F63.0) without psychotic disorders. In 84,2% cases, the patients preferred slot machine gambling. The causes of such preferences were analyzed. The phenomenology of the psychic experience of the patients who are slot machine gamblers is presented. With the formation of the addiction, the gamblers began to think about slot machines as human beings (creatures), feel attachment to them, see the individuality in them, and experience slot machines as live and real partners in imaginative or even verbal dialogs. Two main "forms of contact" with slot machines were elicited and described: verbal and non-verbal. The gambler has been gradually depleted the image of himself and experiences the "loss of contact" with his own features, qualities, wishes, and intentions. The data obtained may be helpful in psychotherapeutic and rehabilitative work with such patients.