Hey everyone,
One thing I’m really struggling with lately is how fast time disappears when I gamble. I’ll tell myself “just 10 minutes,” and suddenly it’s been 3 or 4 hours. I miss meals, sleep late, and it’s affecting my daily routine more than I want to admit.
Has anyone found ways to stay mindful of time when the urge hits? Or anything that helps snap you out of the zone when you're deep in it?
I’m not trying to blame the apps or machines, I just want to understand how others broke this habit of losing track of time.
Appreciate any advice.
Jhonn Mick
Hello Jhonnmarie,
Welcome to our GamCare Forum and thank you for sharing on here.
It sounds like you're actively working on your recovery to find ways to cope with triggers and urges. One thing which can help is to put up strong barriers in place to prevent quick access to gambling sites when these urges hit.
Software blocking can help to give you some time to pause and put strong measure of block in place, preventing you from acting hastily on any urges. Free self-exclusion tools are available through our TalkBanStop partnership. You can download Gamban (blocking software) here: https://gamban.com/signup/promo/gamcare and GamStop (self-exclusion) here: https://www.gamstop.co.uk/
There are also other options for software blocking which you can find here: Blocking software - GamCare
We are here to support you and also provide a listening space to help you take action on how you can overcome this or find ways to cope with triggers that you have mentioned. We provide 1:1 support which can be a valuable space for you to go through your triggers and work on understanding and breaking the gambling cycle/habit. Please do contact us through to our helpline to speak to one of our advisers for a debrief or if you want to access more of a 1 to 1 support through GamCare. Our helpline is open 24/7 and you can contact us via call on 0808 8020 133 or you can go through our website and chat to someone here: https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/talk-to-us-now/
Best wishes,
Brielle
Forum Admin
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