Bitten by the £5 accumulator

Hi Stewart and welcome to the forum .

I know your not feeling good buddy , been there done that and got the debt to prove it !

Thing is whats done is done , you can't change it , just learn from it , letting go of the losses is the hard bit but you must in order to move forward , wev'e had afew discussions on here and most people agree that you have to write it off , accept its not coming back and thats that and stop chasing it .

Lecture over ! You know that as compulsive gamblers we can't win because we cant stop , its not the money that really matters anymore just the buzz or excitement it creates , the money even if we win is just ammunition to thow back into the gambling pot .

You need to get your blocks in place so that will limit your ability to gamble , self exclude from bookies or sites , use blocking software on your laptop, phone or tablet in fact anything you can put in your way that helps you get past that early stage of recovery .

I've been where you are and tried all the , taking a break cutting down on stakes stuff but I've always ended up just gambling bigger amounts , it doesn't work for us, weve gone over the edge so to speak and hard as it is we just can't gamble anymore .

Lots of help and advice on here my friend , no judgements just support from those that know how you feel !

As for tommorow and work , well thats another day so be happy that youve stopped gambling and look forward to moving on with your life , you could always walk into work whistleing "Alway's look on the bright side of life " ? It's only money and with time that can be replaced but all those days gambling can't which is why you need to do this !

Take care my friend and keep posting !

Alan

You'll feel good, cos tomorrow your a day closer to beating this and everyday gamble free is a day stronger! although I cant offer much advice, tomorrow will be my first day gamble free in a good 2 years. good luck with your journey. I self excluded from everywhere today, have you looked into this? Also, do you have a trigger? I find I bet more when I'm angry, upset or bored. once again, good luck!

Wow, tough weekend Stewart.

The good news is you know you can beat this - 6 months gamble free is no mean feat, I've never managed it yet, so the question is how to go a little further next time?

The answer is simple, never have a bet. Ever. Many a multi-thousand pound relapse has occured after dropping a golden nugget into a fruit machine, or placing a well intentioned 'fun' bet on the footie.

You know you are a compulsive gambler. Maybe it's your competitive nature, maybe it's greed, maybe it's just the rush of the win. None of that matters, you seem like you've got the willpower to beat it, you just need to stick with the programme.

Can an alcoholic have a little tipple at Christmas? In 99.9% of cases the answer is no.
Can a compulsive gambler have a little flutter? I mean, it's the Derby weekend...? See above.

Stick your chest out with pride today. You might have a little mountain to climb to get back to that smooth path you've been walking, but next weekend you will be £1400 better off because you know, and I know, that it isn't going to happen again.

Chin up fella. Kev

Thank you to you all for taking the time to write. Work today was tough as my sleeping pattern was so poor due to thoughts on how long it will take me to get back on track. Seeing the positivity helps me a great deal. Do any of you have any essentials to stop me creeping back to old habits? I think it is more boredom than anything that causes me to relapse. Once that fiver goes I lose complete control. Do I need to attend GA meetings or are there other routes to take?

Different strokes for different folks Stewart.

Easiest way is to take your photo into all the local bookies and get yourself on the exclusion list. It stops you spending that first fiver, you will not be allowed to place a bet.

I attended one GA meeting and it was nice having a little bit of support from people in the same boat, but I didn't agree with the prayers, bible stuff and religious side of it, it felt very preachy to me so I never went back. Honestly it may have been a good thing to carry on going, I had a couple of relapses after that which I probably wouldn't have had otherwise, but I felt that at that time it wasn't for me.

This place is almost as good, but the thing with us gamblers is that we are quite often liars - to ourselves more than anything else. It's nearly impossible to look into the eyes of someone who has done the exact same things and bullsh1t them, they'll sniff your lies a mile away.

Definite pro's for GA but it wasn't my bag. I did better with 1 - on - 1 counselling and having a friend local to me in Bolton going through the same thing. It meant we shared the burden a bit. Scary at the time but must have been hilarious watching a couple of grown men having a pint and turning pale everytime we heard the fruit machine dropped a few coins!

Hi Stewart, welcome to recovery 🙂

You got through today so well done! I kinda disagree with the above in as much that self excluding will stop you gambling there but with so many opportunities around that's only one small barrier & recovery isn't just about abstaining.

This place is great for some but as Kev says, the accountability is not so strong here. There are other routes including GamCare counselling but don't ever be put off by GA...Admittedly I too have only attended one meeting but aside from the serenity prayer, it had naff all to do with bibles & religion, just a bunch of people, who'd taken a wrong turn, helping each other out! It figures that all the meetings vary so if you don't get on with one, hopefully there is another meeting close by that you can try! The thing is with recovery, you have to give it as much as you gave gambling...Until you draw a line under all your losses & accept that there is no such thing as control, the addiction will always be strong enough to pull you back!

Don't let it! Choose 'No' - ODAAT