Interesting question, Hugh. This won't be at all a definitive answer, but as a first step...
One of the mechanisms by which (the psychological side of) addiction operates is by constantly, relentlessly bringing something into attention. These cravings may not be particularly dramatic, but they are insistent, and become (often more through repetition than through sheer force) almost impossible to ignore. For instance, among people who are addicted to food, comparatively few are binge eaters; most of them simply never stop thinking of eating, are simply always hungry. Someone who can no longer sit through an hour's lecture without thinking of their upcoming cigarette break has certainly crossed the line from casual smoker to addict. The addiction is a reflex, a subtext which colors everything. Its power lies, in part, in its ability to interrupt everything else.
I think that often an effective way of dealing with addiction is to employ a similar strategy. One cannot fight addiction with grand plans and resolutions only, because addiction is the small stream of water which can carve a canyon out of any mountain, worry a hole in any fortress. Yet a small stream of water can be diverted, if you focus on the stream and not on the canyon. One can fight this insistent diversion on its own terms.
Attention is a funny thing. One's mood, one's focus can change radically at the drop of a hat. You hear certain news; you suddenly worry about something; someone you like smiles at you. Locally it seems as if the addiction is insistent, but you can probably imagine many things that would make you forget about it entirely, at least for the next hour or so. You don't need to invoke something extreme, but recognizing the possibility that the addiction is not so powerful is a very useful step. If you know this, you can try to negotiate.
You would like a cigarette; but first, watch the news. First, take a
walk. You are writing a paper and would like to open your email; but
first, finish this paragraph. It is the middle of the afternoon and you are again hungry. Rather than getting up, look at the clock; tell yourself if you're still hungry in fifteen minutes, you'll get something then. In the meantime, walk over to a colleague's desk to ask them about a joint project. If you have more control over your schedule, your distractions can be more elaborate. Put this off as long as possible; it can wait. At some point, if the need is strong, you might allow yourself to indulge. The strategy is to slowly begin to assert yourself, to break the pattern of constant capitulation.
It helps if you have a positive habit which can slowly replace the addiction, hopefully something incompatible. You would like to stop smoking; start running. You would like to eat less; schedule yoga classes for an hour after dinner. Etc. But this is part of the larger strategy. Locally, what I have described above is something like innoculation.
All that you have written makes a great deal of sense. Any thoughts specifically on gambling addiction? There is a difference here: winning produces a kind of high, and the desire for the high becomes obsessive. So, even when you lose, you keep going back to experience the high for "future winning".
