Spending some time in social activities still does not remove the fact that if you are not able to control your gambling activities and set your mind straight without expecting anything from it, you will still end up becoming an addict at the end of the day.
Thats too much radical thinking. Those who are addicted are trying their level best to keep themselves away from gambling and thus achieve that by spending time with their family and taking part in cultural activities.
The idle mind is the devil's workplace : like they say more you stay idle and waste time the more you are going to get involved in wrong stuff.
Gambling is one thing a lot of people have made it a problem for themselves based on their outlook towards it, the desire to make money and get rich quick from gambling and with all those kind of emotions erupting, it becomes hard to get out from at the end.
True but the only person to blame is themselves. They can control their habits but they wont which give rise to the addiction.