About 5 years ago I was living in a flat and had a friend move in, never had any sort of addiction and never gambled online. He introduced me to skybet, thought it was amazing when I made a £20 bet and a few days later had £80
sent to my bank! From here on I quickly became hooked. Had a great win of £1200 that really re-installed this addiction but a few months later I'm broke and getting bailed out by my parents. O and there was a point where I was popping in gambling shops every day. Was awful and went to gambling anonymous.
for a few months. Found it helpful just the fact of meeting with people and talking to people with same problems. But didn't agree with a lot of the way GA operates. Found the holding hands thing very strange and a bit cultish GA in genereral,
also just didn't like the thought of having to spend a night there every week when theres other things I'd rather do. Strangely enough I stayed gamble free (online) for about 4 years. And even now haven't been in a bookie since.
But last summer I was off work sick and got back into the gambling. Long story short I was quickly about 4k down, in about 10k debt ( other debt from car/holidays etc.) But my look changed, in football almost every game was an injury time
winner in my favour! Then on the slots hit a £4k win! before I know it a 8.5k swing. I pay off a fair bit of debt and install gam block. Thought can't waste that luck and want to quit.
But during the last year, setting computer to factory settings to uninstall gamblock, re-adding it, up until last month I've lost £2.5k. Then 2 weeks ago, I hit a 5k slot win! But don't feel much from it, gambled about £1100 of that away but at the
whole time just want to quit but feel a bit helpless. Been suffering with depression over the years and only realloy get enjoyment out of gambling. Wish I could put my energys in gambling into something more productive.
So here I am typing my story on gambling therapy stories, added the gambling blocking software and just signed upto that nation gambling exclusion thing. I just want to stop and be thankful that unlike most extreme problem gamblers my finances
haven't been destroyed (I'm strangely about 6k up this year.) And for the 1st time I'm debt free! But yet I feel so annoyed that I put 1100 back after that ridiculously lucky 5000 slot win and should have stopped then. But yes Im addicted which i obviousl
am! Any suggestions of what else I can do to beat this demon?
Hi hategambling,
First thing to say is quit while your ahead! Read loads of the stories on here and you’ll find some where 10k has been blown by some in under a hour. This could easily happen to anyone on here, put blocks in place so that it doesn’t happen to you. Take the money out of your control then you cannot spend it. Treat yourself with it but don’t see it as a reward for your gambling. I’m early days but it’s a truly vicious cycle when your in it, it will drain you of everything including your health and that’s the most important part.
Much love, Daniel
Somehow focus on the fact you're one of the lucky ones who knows they need to get out of this without the debt and regret making it so hard for them to move on. When you're a compulsive gambler it's hard to end on a win but it's even harder to end on a heavy loss when all you know is to chase chase chase.
Yes a loss manages to shake your foundations and make you feel sorry for yourself and determined to quit but either way if you aren't in control which let's face it the majority of us on here aren't, then you've got to fight this every day for the rest of your life.
The fact you gamble to try and overcome feelings of depression is the key here. I gamble when I'm feeling anxious or worried and the act of gambling is secondary to this. You need to work on getting to the bottom of your depression and this will be a massive factor in abstaining from gambling long term.
I'm saying this like I'm some sort of wise man who has been gambling free for years, however I'm a hypocrite. I am a fully qualified hypnotherapist and EFT practitioner and I know the importance of getting to the root cause of issues to have the best possible chance of changing, yet here I am starting my own journey to recovery. I've done some serious soul searching these last few weeks and I'm aware of my triggers and what I need to overcome.
I've got my first GA meeting tonight and I start therapy next week. I'll do my own self hypnosis and EFT as well but I need aid from nother therapist as well to boost my chances of beating this.
Good luck, you can do it.
Put your winnings into a credit union(CU) account, they don't have a cash card so you can't use a card to set up a gambling account. They have a savings book, old school, where you can still get your money but it involves you going out to the local credit union and drawing the money out. I found that having money in the CU instead means that I'm more thoughtful of when I have to go lift money to pay any bills. Takes the spur of the moment option away from me if I think I want to gamble (gamstop registered just be be safe I don't stray) Good luck.
Well done on acknowledging that you could have a much bigger problem further down the line . If you carry on you will lose . As you know it’s not always about the money although it’s a big part . What’s gone is gone that’s all I can tell you . Don’t be like me at the age of 43 having blown six figures over my gambling career .
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