~
A person who gets addicted to gambling will only get out of it if they are willing to do that because you can't force someone to stop doing a certain thing as long as they are not ready to do that themselves. When it comes to gambling addicts, they barely acknowledge the fact that they are addicted, they will always be in denial and say that they do gamble but they aren't addicted to it even if you can see that they are spending all their time and money on it.
A professional, a friend, or a family member can only help an addicted gambler get out of their addiction if the gambler says it themselves that they are addicted and they feel like they should stop gambling as it's eating up all their time and money and it is causing issues for their life.
I agree with you. If someone addicted to the point that he/she is spending all money on it but at the same time thinks he's a responsible gambler, it's extremely hard to help such a person. Gambling addicts think that there are ups and downs in their gambling career, and when they lose everything it's just one of those times, but surely they will recover in the nearest future. That's the main mistake of gambling addicts.
I do not agree with you because you seem to be abandoning the gambling addict due to the stage of their predicament, we should not do this for any reason. Fine, it could be hard to help gambling addicts especially when they've reached a certain stage in their addiction, yet, it might be worth it because no one knows the advice that will eventually heal them. Gambling addiction could be at the worst but it could be that the simplest thing will be their solution. Some are just suffering from this addiction because they do not have hope and purpose, if one could find the hope and purpose for them, they might immediately stop.
In my experience with gamblers who are addicted, one thing has always been their reason, and that is the money. Knowing this source of their problem alone is enough reason for you to help them. Just try as much as possible to show them another way that money could be made, and then you will see changes, at least in most cases. If you want to end the addiction in them totally, give them a purpose in life in addition to that, to the point that it will be taking their time and energy all day, but this time, it is positive because they are reaping the good results of what they are using their time and energy for. Before you know it, they will forget about gambling, not to talk of the addiction therein. This should work for most cases if not all.