Financial affairs are disastrous. Bills are unpaid, and family is knowledgeable, suffering, and powerless. Phones go unanswered. The gambler wants it to end and contemplate suicide, which is a more frequent consequence than people imagine. Death is viewed as the only exit strategy.
Rock bottom is generally the only point of possible remedial action.
Only after the family forsakes the gambler, they have lost their job, they are being sued, and completely lacking in resources, does an attempt at remediation occur. Relapses from initial recovery programs is frequent, as he convinces himself and others that he has conquered his problem, but is merely recreating the downward spiral once again but with a transparent shield of lying and deceit. This relapse may trigger undertaking recovery in a more serious way. Unfortunately, there are many who undertake the recovery program at the same time they are still gambling. This is a new clinical phase which is a function of the fact that many gamblers actually go beyond the desperation phase.