I'm really worried about my brother - he had a gambling addiction before at one point winning then losing 10,000 in one day. But having talked about it and lots of promises with me checking his bank statements we thought we'd sorted it.
He has recently moved to a different area following a promotion at work and he's started gambling again because he is miserable and lonely - this isn't obviously makes him worse.
We've discussed opening a new bank account and only transferring the money he needs every week and he's agreed to this - I just wonder what else I can do to help him. He's 21 years old and it makes me so sad that he's so unhappy.
Hi Sister24,
Thanks for your post, and welcome to the forum. I can see the concern you have for your brother and how much you want to help. That's very commendable, and at this point, I'd say you've done about the most you can.
Every gambler at some point has to make the decision to quit and change things for themselves, and it's often very difficult for the people around them to wait for that. It sounds like you've already done quite a lot attempting to help him; beyond that, all you can do is give him our number and really encourage him to call us. We'd be happy to talk to him about other options, such as making healthier lifestyle choices, ways to set up barriers to gambling if he'd like, and possibly looking into individual counselling. We have partner agencies in many parts of the country that provide counselling to gamblers at no cost, and this might really help him change.
We don't want him to be so unhappy either because of gambling, or for you to be so sad worrying about him. If you'd like to chat with us about any of this, or if you want to encourage your brother to get in touch, we're available on the Helpline (0808 8020 133) or the Netline from 8am to midnight every day.
Hope this helps,
Travis
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