With other things it can sometimes be recommended that the addict slowly winds down their consumption of the addictive activity or substance, but that doesn't sound very realistic with gambling, does it?
Quitting cold turkey, contemplating on your mistakes and talking about it with a group and some experts sounds like the best path. What are your thoughts? Could a problem gambler quit slowly and expect realistic improvements?
I think this is definitely the right recommendation for a person who is struggling to quit any kind of addiction.
There is actually some science behind addiction- like you cannot quit in one (1) go after years of being exposed to a habit. Once you attempt to quit and stop it completely, the relapses happen often which leads to a failure of quitting altogether.
Like what you have just mentioned, take things slow. A gambler built their addiction on a year's pace and getting it out of your system will also require small steps. But what is important here is the consistency and determination of quitting which makes everything from impossible to possible.