Hi all hope your all well. I am today 10 days gamble free. 28th March was my last episode of gambling, payday. The usual happened. I got paid and as soon as it hit my account over £400 gambled. This is the usual occurence but this time was different, id had enough, I wanted change. I realised my life couldnt go on like this - isolating myself, being depressed, not going out due to lack of money, not seein family, constantly borrowring money to get by, selling my stuff, it was no quality of life. I got up the next day and things had to change. For the first time in about 2 years I phoned gamcare who reffered me for therapy. I decided that day the gambling was to stop. The first week was hard I some days I was very positive but there was couple of days of deep depression. on Friday I went for my first therapy session and was please to tell my counsellor I was a week gamble free. It felt so good, She knew me well having been reffered many times over the past 10 years but this time was different, I really want to change. Ive had a couple of urges the last couple of days and on one occasion tried logging into my casino account but luckily the blanket exclusion that gamcare put in place worked a treat and I couldnt login. Ive felt so much better this week, been going out a lot more, not so isolated my money has lasted me a lot longer, Ive been focussing better on work (im self employed). Generally feeling positive - Just got to keep it up now. I thought I would sign up to this forum to track my progress moving forward and hopefully get a bit of support aswell. Thanks for reading if you got this far.
Hi JF,
So far youve done everything right. 1 Admitted gambling is a problem. 2 Sought help.3 Put the neccessary blocks in place like self exclusion. Give yourself a massive pat on the back for 10 days GF and use this as a foundation to start building a happy life free from this dreadful addiction.
Stay Strong 1 Day At A Time & Keep Posting
AL
Sorry for delayed response I tried logging in a few times last week but site was down. All is going well. 18 days gamble free now. Not going to lie have had urges but so far have been able to fight them, i did try logging in to one of my gambling accounts last week but luckily my blanket exclusion worked thankfully and ive not tried since. Therapy is going well. Counsellor has talked about having a back up plan in case urges carry on, she mention Barclays bank being able to block gambling transactions on my account, not something ive been successful with in the past but she said there have been changes so im going to follow up that line of enquiry, just incase! Family have been really supportive. I plucked up the courage to tell my aunt the other day how bad my gambling had got - she didnt have a clue but she was pleased how well i am now doing & wants me to keep it up. Please keep the messages of support coming. I will try check in more often.
@alwalm thanks for the encouragement - it is appreciated 🙂
Well done mate. I was very much like that, payday was deposit day and then find myself skint and scrapping around , it was miserable.ive got all the blocks in place and I'm paying a lot of debt back but I'm learning that it's ok to spend money on normal stuff.i try and plan activity more and make sure I'm away from sport on a weekend as best as I can.this is for life mate.its hard but you have to try.good luck
thank you, i feel so much better for it although haven't really seen the financial benefits yet as still playing catch up from gambling my months income last month. Ive had income since from jobs ive done as im self employed but its all gone on paying things I should have paid on payday. Im all caught up now though. I get paid my monthly income again in just over a week & I have a weekend away planned with family for my nieces birthday so I plan on spoiling her & enjoying myself with family.
Update: I contacted barclays who were very supportive (for a change) - they have put a block on all gambling transactions on my card.
Money will be tough at first , with me it will be tough for 2 years at least, but I have a plan and that doesn’t involve gambling my way out of it, it’s a plan with money left over after paying my debts and that is how I get out of this mess by spending only that....DO NOT GAMBLE AND ONE DAY IT WILL COME GOOD.
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