Psych CASC / OSCE · Addiction psychiatry — behavioural addictions
Explain gambling disorder, CBT, and naltrexone — CASC communication station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style communication station: explain GD as a medical behavioural addiction, CBT and harm reduction first-line, realistic off-label naltrexone counselling, suicide-debt risk, and collaborative work with family without collusion or moralising.
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Station brief
Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes active time after reading. You are the psychiatry/addiction registrar. The examiner may play the patient and/or partner. [1]
Candidate instructions. Explain gambling disorder in plain language. Outline why CBT, motivational work, and financial safeguards are first-line. Discuss naltrexone honestly (off-label, not a magic injection cure). Assess suicide and alcohol risk sensitively. Negotiate a collaborative plan without shaming or colluding in either total control-by-partner or pure willpower myths. [2][3]
References4ShowHide
- [1]Potenza MN, et al. Gambling disorder Nat Rev Dis Primers, 2019.PMID 31346179
- [2]Petry NM, et al. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for pathological gamblers J Consult Clin Psychol, 2006.PMID 16822112
- [3]Grant JE, Kim SW, Hartman BK A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the opiate antagonist naltrexone in the treatment of pathological gambling urges J Clin Psychiatry, 2008.PMID 18384246
- [4]Cowlishaw S, et al. Psychological therapies for pathological and problem gambling Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2012.PMID 23152266