hi everyone I am new here my names Stuart I'm 33.
I have been gambling online for around 2.5 years, slots only I started off small bets they increased, I had 20k saving.
I lost the savings in my first year then by xmas 2016 I saved back my savings
6 months has passed I now have 15k debt and zero savings
Last night the 7/6/17 I had £200 left on my £8100 credit card I won
At 2.01am by 2.17 I had nothing, clearly I have a serious problem I have a 4 month old child and a 2 year old my wife still thinks I have the 20k,
I work in a family business and cannot tell anybody as I am to take over on a few years I have no chance if this come out affecting my future, any ideas I'm feeling really low today and can't believe what I have done just a few hours ago life changing sum of money for me and now debt and stress continues 2.5 years of lies, not spending wife thinks I'm the tightest man on the planet as I don't buy anything as I'm always saving to try and and get back on track but relapse every few months. Desperate for advice I'm based in Bristol, do groups or counceling work not sure why I keep doing it can't believe for the life of me £200 well 35k total losses and I end up betting £500 a spin and gone in 16 minutes aghhhhhhhhh god help me what to do !
Hi Stu,
Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum. I edited your post just a wee bit, since speaking about what you've won can be triggering for some people. It sounds like gambling has been really stressful for you in the last couple years, and it's been a heavy burden to keep this a secret all this time. If you're gambling online and wanting to quit, have you tried downloading blocking software? Have a look at this page of our website, and see if any of these might help you: http://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-advice/what-can-you-do/blocking-software#.VBwD8fldXww
Those would be a good way to protect yourself online. If they don't work on your phone for any reason, you might have to consider not having a smartphone and just using a basic phone, like a lot of other people have done.
What about getting group support through Gamblers Anonymous ( https://www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/), or maybe getting some individual counselling? We do have a partner agency in Bristol that provides one to one counselling at no cost, so that would certainly be worth trying. Here's a link to our map of partner agencies: http://www.gamcare.org.uk/support-and-counselling/face-face-counselling/find-local-counselling
You've asked if those things work, and that answer is different for everybody. Generally you get out of counselling what you put into it, and it is one of the things that tends to work well in helping you learn to manage your urges better and choose healthier behaviours, as well as help you identify why you gamble like this. A lot of our forum members have found counselling and GA to be really helpful, so I'd encourage you to try them both.
Certainly feel free to give us a call as well, using either the Helpline or Netline, and we'd be happy to chat with you about any of this. You can use the links at the top of the page, and we're open 8am to midnight every day.
Hope this helps,
Travis
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