So I heard a story of some acquaintances that in their friend group, some person really got addicted recently.
Gambling addiction doesn't just occur suddenly and recently. It happens over a period of time - days, months, years, decades. It process is just like a butterfly metamorphosing.
This guy hasn't caused any trouble to his friends but it's a worrying situation to see him waste most of his salary every month... So now the other guys were contemplating to quit their poker playing hobby because it was really affecting their friend negatively. And they had a somewhat regular get-together to play poker with very small stakes just for the fun of it. It's a petty that they might have to abandon their poker games but to them it's either that or abandoning their friend and worsening his compulsion.
The best way to get their friend help is not for them to quit gambling because they would not be doing it of their freewill and they going to regret it later. Rather going with their friend to a gamblers meeting. Getting them the professional help that they need and funding it as best as they can.
Would you do the same for a friend? Me personally I think I would have just confronted such a friend and told them to seek help instead of me altering my lifestyle for his benefit. If they didn't seek help to the point that it was affecting me I would've just stopped hanging out with them silently I think. A friend would've had to be a real good one to make an exception at least.
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