Gambling addiction will always be closer to alcohol, drugs and other illegal drugs and we often see cases of someone who is ensnared by the law after being caught stealing money or robbing because they want to gamble again and the reason they steal the money is not just to gamble but to buy alcohol or drugs. and behind alcohol or drugs it is only an outlet for what they hate about themselves who cannot stop gambling but do not have family or friends who can help get rid of their addiction so they choose to destroy themselves by consuming illegal drugs or alcohol.
Another problem here is that all of this is just about irresponsible gambling which ends a person's life very badly in the long run and the story that we are discussing is one of the sufferings of gamblers who cannot stop their gambling activities or cannot gamble responsibly so they already become addicts very serious gambling.
Stealing to gamble? This is the height of it, why not steal to do business or better your life in other ways? I don't know how far this is true, but it might be true because I've seen people doing similar things, only that it's not as bad as this. The fact remains that when we gamble, we should gamble with sense and be sure of what we know and are doing, and gamble with what is not beyond ordinary. Gambling because of alcohol or stealing to gamble fully shows that these people are no more with their senses and the only remedy is for them to get help before it worsens. It's the responsibility of their close people to detect this and get them help, that's if they love them, and also the gambler's responsibility to be willing to change for the help to be effective.
I don't get the point of what you said, stealing to do business? That's ridiculous.
Anyways, as they have said above, people can do unimaginable things once they are consumed in gambling or any other vices. It is indeed the responsibility of the people around them to avoid these things from happening, however, this is not a simple thing to do. Most people hide what they are doing from their family and friends and keep everything from themselves. If this is the case, people around them can't easily figure things out what's going on with a person who's addicted to gambling.
Well, you are right, most gambling addicts will never tell their family or friends about their gambling habit, probably due to fear of being castigated.
In some major part of our societies, most especially; places where religious beliefs of sentiments are really strong, people don't usually see gambling as something or an activity that is morally right for one to engage in, so for someone who lives in such a society or place, it is only normal that they would want to keep all their gambling activities a secret, even when they are addicted and need help, it will be difficult for such a person to open up to family or friends.
Myself have been gambling for years now without my wife knowing, and I have never given her any reason to even suspect that I am a gambler, and I don't or didn't tell her because she doesn't like gambling and as well have this natural disdain for those who indulge in gambling, so this is why I have kept my gambling activities from her, regardless of the fact that I am not an addict.
So the above can as well be someone else's reason why he or she is keeping his or her gambling activities a secret, but then, my personal take on this is, if someone is addicted and needs help, such a person have no choice but to find a way to open up, for without tell the doctor what your problem is, he may not know what drug to administer to you .