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MONTREAL (CP)--Psychologist Marvin Steinberg gets uncomfortable when he hears people talk about investing in terms of "playing the market." Steinberg says the stock-market frenzy of the last few years has brought out unhealthy tendencies. Some people may have an addiction to the market every bit as dangerous as compulsive gambling at casinos or racetracks. It's no different than high-risk recreational gambling," says Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. The investment industry doesn't like the word "gambling" linked to it but "serious gambling does go on in financial markets," he said. Problem gamblers can be found in any area where there's financial risk," Steinberg told the recent annual conference of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming. In England, you have book-makers taking action on the futures markets." Some people have put all their savings into stocks, mutual funds and other financial products, including some high-risk ones, in the belief there's no better way to get rich fast. Chris Anderson was one of them. The ex-stockbroker from Austin, Tex., doubled his money in two days on his first trade on the options market, and figured he'd found a sure path to riches. Two-and-a-half years later, more than $100,000 in debt, he went bankrupt. He lost his house and his marriage collapsed. Now he's executive director of the Illinois Council On Problem and Compulsive Gambling. I'd never gambled before in my life," said Anderson, 44. One hundred per cent of my gambling was on the options market." The options, futures and commodities markets are notoriously volatile, but even stocks go up and down on short notice. The spectacular rise and fall of Bre-X Minerals is "an exaggerated example" of what can happen, Anderson said. Steinberg isn't concerned about the people who analyse the risks in the stock market and make reasoned choices while seeing their investments as long-term. He said the compulsive-gambler profile is more common among high-turnover traders and get-rich-quick types--including a surprisingly high percentage of people who work in the securities industry. They're in it for the short haul, focused on action." They may conceal what they're doing, cheat or steal to fund their habit, and neglect other areas of their life. Steinberg estimates the compulsives represent about two per cent of all securities-market players. Anderson noted market purchases are often made with borrowed money so there's a danger of losing much more than the original stake. We get greedy and behave like lemmings," he said. Paul Ashe, president of the Maryland-based U.S. National Council on Problem Gambling Inc., predicted a "major correction" to North American stock markets "in the not-too-distant future." Ashe said the change could be as severe as what hit Japan in 1989, from which it hasn't fully recovered. People are getting sucked up into this thing," Ashe said. "They think (the markets) can never go down. There's this false sense of security."