Relapse / mental health

I really hate to read such a story...... It's Soo familiar as the casinos allways win.....  U didn't stand a chance like us all..... All I can say is three years is a hell of an achievement so I can see you are fully capable of stopping for good.

Now the reality is that the one way you are garuanteed everything you would like thru life is to knuckle down at work (when well enough) get the balance right between work life and social life in order to stay well....... When you knuckle down at work people  will notice and you will progress hopefully (this is not garaunteed but everyone loves a tryer) ....... Then you can pay back any debts and save up again.

It may seem it but money is not the be all to a happy life some of the richest people in the world are very unhappy and some of the poorest in the world live the happiest of lives...... We are trained thru this society to believe we need to work hard to get more money to buy all these material things when in reality these material things just end up owning us.....

If u think about it there is money wealth where u can purchase any service available and there is physical wealth where you can physically do everything thru life and life a longer life....... I'm personally aiming for a mixture of both thru not drinking, not smoking, going to gym, and working hard and doing overtime when I'm well enough...... Now I work for minimum wage so am never going to be rich but I sure can live a longer and more fulfilled life as a result.

Now don't look to repair your finances as quickly as possible the finances will sort themselves out if u don't gamble and that is garaunteed......

All the best Adam xxx

Hi

I have many relapses over a twenty year period.

It was importasnt to learn from each relapse what was my last emotional trigger.

In the recovery program I would learn how to heal my pains and that includes bereavement.

Gambling and getting drunk were my worst unhealthy habits.

I understand today that going back to Gambling always makes things much worse than they were.

Money was never going to heal my pains or reduce my fears.

Going to meetings will help you help your self.

All the time I was in meetings I was not ina ction and not thinking about gambling.

The gambling establishments never hurt me, I hurt myself.

The gambling establishments never lied to me, I lied to myself.

Having hatred only idicates I am not able to heal my pains.

Meetings and counselling was the only path to recovery for me.

I needed to have clarity in my mind to owrk out my needs my wants and in time my new found goals.

Money was never going to heal my pains.

Living in shame, regret and sadness only indicates you are living in the pains of your past.

Sadly before I got a healthy recovery I found I had to go to more meetinsg per week.

To get healthy I needed to become selfish in regards my recovery.

There were times I was tired it was raining and I so much wanted to make excuses why nto to meetings.

Yes meetings and counselling were a way to resolve healinga nd exchanging unhealthy habits in to healthy habits.

Only once you learn to trust your self can you trust others.

When theree were not GA meetings I would go to AA open meetings.

The time and effort you invest in to your self today will change your future.

Do no beat your self up.

You did not loose 3 years that clean time can not be lost.

With high levels of fears it is to easy to go in to panick mode and made thinsg much worse.

Hand over all your finances and put time and effort in to finding a healthy life.

Get to understand more about your emotioanl triggers.

Love and peace to every one

Dave L

AKA Dave of Beckenham UK

Posted by: @anomo11

Hi, Wonder if anyone could please offer some advice. I have recently had a relapse after being 3 years gamble free. I'm going to try my best to explain the situation but my mental health isn't good and it may come across scrambled.

Bit of background on me, 3 years ago I had a mental break down (dealing with a bereavement, never got a promotion at work, relationship problems) and was drunk when I started betting online.

Initially I think I thought if I could just get the last amount for my house deposit it would help my situation. However, I lost half of my money, confessed to my family and had half left. Ashamed/angry with the fact I had lost the money and not being able to deal with it, I tried to get it back. This in turn meant I lost all of my money and was looking for other options. Loans, credit card etc I had ran up a considerable amount of money before I told anyone again. This in turn lead me to sign up to gamstop and enter into a trust deed to pay off the debt. 

3 years gamble free and 3 years into my trust deed (1 year to go) I have had a relapsed. Suffering a mental break at the moment which I am receiving help for. Stupidly I went to put a lottery ticket on (thinking it would change my situation as not being paid my full wage due to being off sick). 

Before you know it after putting the lottery ticket on, I was playing online games and had lost quite a bit of money. Panicking thinking I couldn't afford to lose this money I resorted to looking for ways to gamble on online black jack which had been where it started originally to get it back.

As I am already signed up to gamstop I stupidly used an overseas website to try to gamble to get the money back. Before you know it I had lost about 10x times the amount of the original loss. Seeing that this hadn't worked I wanted to use a uk online casino as I was convinced that I could get it back and stop.

I can't tell you amount of shame, regret and sadness that this has brought me but I am not looking for pity as it is my own fault. Any advice would help. I know that I need help to stop the gambling which I have decided I am going to do but would really appreciate advice to try to get out of this mess. 

 

The only way to get better my friend is to Literally stop gambling , otherwise the reality is you will keep suffering until you stop ! best wishes

I really feel for you Anomo11. I have been through something similar and it is terrible. Johnny57 above is quite correct, you now have to write it all off and quit for good. It took me many years and years of false starts and false promises to finally understand this. 

Please just stop gambling and start putting it all behind you - you will never get the losses back - no way.

I wish you well in your recovery and hope you get the support you need to get better and move forward with your life.