Addiction

Welcome to the forum donniedarko124. You've certainly got a lot of insight into why you gamble. Sorry you don't feel that GA and counselling has helped. I hope you find the support you are looking for here in the forum, from the experiences of other forum members and from their responses to you. Maybe start by responding to other people's threads and diaries. If you see something that chimes with you, respond.

If you feel like trying counselling again, we can put you in touch. Or give us a call on the Helpline or Netline - we're here 8am to midnight every day. 0808 8020 133.

Wishing you well with your recovery.

Forum Admin

Hi donniedarko124

What positive things do you have in your life to focus on if you don't mind me asking? Job? Girlfriend? I personally still don't know why I gamble, I think it's because I want to win big and have a great life and be able to look after my family, but I had my big win around 3 weeks ago and blew it all before it even hit my bank account. I've thought I had a problem with gambling for a long time but not really recognised it until now. Being older I have become wiser in some ways, I thought I was invincible in my 20s, drugs drink not really giving a ****. I wish now that I had changed my ways when I was younger and I'd be in a better place now. I've worked out you will be around 28. You can find the strength to deal with your problems now and make your future better before your 30s or 40s, it's in you, you just have to find it. What advice would you give to a friend in your position, I know it's hard to take your own good advice but if you dig deep enough you will find that moment of clarity and work on it from there. I hope you are ok and start to take small steps soon. Please keep looking on here, I've been on a couple of days and finding it therapeutic talking about what's on my mind.

Take care

hey guys thanks for the replys its been a crazy few weeks. Yes thanks i have been reading many stories and the post on how to stop gambling and tips found very useful.

I used to work for santander until sept this year when i had enough all that money in my till and i had my own problems so i decided a change would help. I signed up to do another uni course but was changed at the last second. I have am now doing a mature course online while on the doll looking for jobs which is hard.

So in the last 2 weeks i have only gambled once which after i felt like s**t . Was out for a chrimtmas do had a few drinks ended up in the casino all i had left was 70 quid lucky no cards anymore so that was it i cant access any other money thank god, i had not intended to gamble but i looked at the tables and guess what there was 8 blacks in a row , while i thought , like i always did and still do its gonna go red so i put 40 down but it went black so i thought f**k i need that but so my last 30 down and f**k me it went black again. now all is gone it went red no s**t and thought what a stupid idoit i am all my cash for sum christmas presents gone just like that lucky dont have cards anymore or would of gone worst. The only thing i took from that is try to think of how i felt after i lost that and had to lie to transfer to get more money to buy stuff. This was on thursday and so far havent wanted to gamble alot since im so glad a lot of options have been taken away from me it hurts but its for the best , my girlfirend and parents eps my mum cant take this anymore.

Hopefully this will help i have 140 now to buy persents i hopefully wont f**k this up tomo and go into the bookies or casino to double this , why am i even thinking this still , it kills me everytime it goes wrong i cant sleep and it just wrecks my head for a few days. ok here goes i am gonna be brave,strong and B********P.

just hope you get some help donnie

gambling can be crippling so some

it kills

please get some help

tri

Hey guys just wanted to update u guys so might help other people , so hopefully at least some make sumone think twice and not go through the pain i did ,not only me but hurt my family and girlfriend and work was starting to getting harder can be very depressing with CC debt letters coming through not stop. I managed to stop pretty much after my last post on here so about 1 year and half not a single gamble. The major thing that helped me was this forum cause my local GA was a load off drunks talking trash. What i did was log on daily and read others horror or happy ending , then i wouldn't want to gamble myself , sounds weird but thinking of all the bad losts and memories and debt just didn't seem worth it after taking time out to thinking out it, instead think about a brighter tomo with no debts, and feeling better about yourself, lucky i had great support really helps. For 2 months solid i would come here to read stories this really helped me clear my mind and the urge to gamble got least over time and now i f*****g hate them , wouldnt P**s on the building if it was on fire!

Anyways things are looking up i am half way through qualified to be an electrician and have been playing in tennis and badminton leagues so this will take away my boredom that used to make me drink and gamble like a mad man . Still working at another S****y bank that i don't like , so i can drink a fair bit , prob way to much but thats a different addiction I'm working on now :).
Hopes help anyone i just wanted to let u guys know it is possible if u use the tips from the forum and YOU have to want to really quit this is most important , dont lie to yourself . Basically you have no cards(get sum you trust to give you money daily so your not tempted) , exclude yourself from everywhere and find other activities, change everything that would make you want to gamble so that them dirty places cant take our money. First few weeks are really hard thinking about trying to get the money back but dont its gone trust me addicts never stop till you WILL lose it out and walk/log off and cry in bed , and wake up maybe not even sleep feeling like s**t, worrying how you are gonna be able to deal with all these debts. This is where mostly forums and people that are in the same boat will only understand my parents and girlfriend just couldnt get there head around how i could just throw away money that easiely they just just didnt understand what a addict is why i didnt have STOP button, so try talk get help if u can that my be going through the same thing or try your local GA if they are any better than mine , and like i said the forum here is cool 😀

Sorry is abit all over the place many times i wanted to add and delete edit to much lol 😀

Hope works out for you new guys just starting on your journey trust me you feel so much better you really do sleep without having nightmares about your debts. Best of luck and thanks to this nice forum for helping me beat these f*****s. Peace out

Hi donniedarko,

Thank you very much for taking the time to write this post. You really have come a long way in your recovery and it is a pleasure to read how much you have learned and achieved for yourself.

It will be -no doubt- helpful for any newcomers and other Forum members to be able to read your story. It is really uplifting and full of hope. Maybe you'd like to post this in the "success stories" section of this Forum, too?

All the best to you and your family.

Kind wishes

Gabriele