Very well said and I completely agree, and I also remember making an example that is somewhat related to this which you have said.
In one of my previous comments on this thread I believe, I talked about someone being sick and clearly needing to receive medication, people around can see that this person is sick and needs medical attention, but the person in question refused and insisted that he or she is not sick, treatment is not something that can be forced on a person except when that person is completely down and can no longer help him or her self up.
Same also goes with all forms of addiction, not just gambling addiction, just as you have said, a sick person have to first agree that he or she is sick and needs medical help, then he can either call the doctor to come check on him or her, or he or she can visit the hospital for check up and possible treatment, same goes with addiction, an addict who has refused to accept that he or she is addicted and need help, will likely remain an addict until he or she first agree, then seek help to come out of it.
Acceptance and willingness are the major key factors in recovering from gambling. It's essential for successful medication that the patient is well-aware about his condition and is willing to be treated and be helped by the professionals. After all, you must first help yourself. Gambling addiction is like a sickness that is serious and has to be healed, otherwise it will consume you and bury you. Anyone that doesn't want to be helped will not recover from their sickness. One must be determined to combat addiction by undergoing rehabilitation and medication together with the professional guidance and counsel. This way, there will be lesser chances of undergoing relapse.
The greatest medicine for a gambler is their own pursuit. If a gambler can't control himself, I don't know if any other medicine will work for him. Because in this era, if the gambler does not share his gambling activities with others, then there is no chance for others to know. Besides, no one else is needed to take such initiative. In this context, I can say that the gambler's own efforts act as the major medicine for the gambler's addiction and recovery. If the gambler has the intention , he can certainly control himself.
I agree with you. If there's no willingness, then there's nothing that can be done. It's a need that the person itself to work with his
addiction and the rest will be a follow-up in helping him to solve his problem.
Being responsible means that you are in control, though even sometimes you can exceed, but you won't allow anything to go that far.
Only you who can work with everything, and only your willingness to move forward, will help you in terms of quitting
or stopping whatever the problem that may arise.
I share in your view that willingness matters to change the narrative in responsible gambling, it's such a fast track to doing the right thing when one gambles, if not, it would even be hard for the person to get help or utilize the help they offer to them when they are eventually addicted to gambling. But the other side of this that you didn't make mention is the state of mind of individuals, when they are weak in minds, there is little they can do to be responsible in gambling, not to mention gauging themselves so that they do not go beyond the limit. Some people are just gambling, there is no purpose, no calculation, no control, not even a pattern at which they gamble.
To these people, they just win or lose and when they lose more and more, they still do not stop as they believe they might still win until they would lose everything. Such a mindset does not fit in gambling, but unfortunately, many people are in this category, their minds are weak and would be so easily susceptible to emotion, and emotion can only aid their ruin in gambling.