However you may be able to reduce your gambling if you devote yourself to other activitie.
This is not possible once someone gets addicted, and it should be done when the person is starting to gamble. Still, some would only get into other activities to reduce gambling if they realize that gambling can be dangerous for them soon if they don't keep themselves away from it or at least reduce their activities in it.
Many people realize their mistake when it's already late, when you are already addicted to gambling, you can't get into other activities because the urge would be too strong to allow you to do that. This is the reason why gamblers need to have an interest in other activities such as sports, video games, or anything in general that can keep them away from gambling as much as possible.
Gambling isn't a bad thing but only if it's done within limits.
It is true that when someone is addicted they will not easily be able to stop, in fact they will not be able to easily reduce gambling activities which have become inherent to them. Apart from that, if they become addicted, they will not easily listen to other people's advice because someone who is addicted tends to only do what they want. Unless they are aware that the gambling they are doing could harm them in the future, then they might do something else or keep themselves busy so they don't return to gambling, but this is unlikely.
Some people or gamblers, in my opinion, are aware of the losses that have hit them, it's just that their awareness is still inferior to their sense of wanting to win, so what they do is go back to gambling with the aim of getting the big win that they say they can get. Keeping yourself busy to divert from gambling can indeed be done, because what happened to my friend is what he did until now he rarely gambles, it could even be said that he doesn't gamble anymore. Apart from that, gambling is not a bad thing, if we do it within certain limits then everything can be fine.