As someone who also suffers from psychological disorders (I won't go into detail on this), I think that in a subject like the one addressed here, we need to separate 2 elements:
- People who play too much, without having a predisposition, a fragility, which can lead them into a difficult situation.
- People who gamble too much and are prone, with their predisposition(s), to addictions in general. Be it drugs, alcohol, games in general (gambling, video games), etc.
Sharing or comparing these hours of play with people who are not affected by disorders or predispositions is equivocal. You can't compare ways of coping or changing course. What works for one person won't work for another.
I advise you to work in a group, with people affected by disorders identical to yours, under professional supervision. For ADHD, this is a recognized and basic approach.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, mental illness is a sign of ignorance on the part of people who don't suffer from it, and even of social rejection. It's also hard to find the “right” professionals, to get a diagnosis AND a reliable way out. In 7 years, I've seen it all, between bad diagnoses and the unbearable wait for the right verdict.
Personally, I have 2 ways of looking at things:
- The addictions I've managed to reduce. I understand that I abuse them anyway, so I've cut them back drastically, without this preventing me from having a balanced life.
- The addictions that I couldn't cut down and that were destabilizing my life balance. I had to stop them all, without exception. They put me in an unbearable “state”, either at the time or in terms of recovery.
After a long time, I managed to stop smoking, drinking coffee, cutting down on alcohol (at this stage, can you say I still drink?) and many other things. But it took several years. I couldn't have done it all at once.
I don't have a miracle solution, I'm just saying that it's possible to get out of it, but sometimes at the price of a heavy sacrifice. Having the strength to change, then, also comes down to the details, the unsuspected habits of life.
Good luck.