Hello all
Day one - new member. What a mess I've gotten myself into. But if I can really stop, things can only get better from here. 36 y/o who has been gambling to deal with the pain of loss and worrying about family stress (not blaming them, but when they have problems, are sick etc. that is my trigger).
I used to gamble when I was a teenager/in my early 20s. Nothing serious, few random football bets. As I got older I gradually stopped and lost interest.
Until.....
After my mum died, I started getting into going to the casino. I slightly lost the plot a bit - was travelling a lot for work and found casinos were a great place to allow yourself to be self destructive, gambling away your money and drinking until late hours.
I've never tried to stop or admitted it was a problem until today. And today is day one and I've decided I'm going to stop, before it impacts on my day to day life, finances and relationships.
So please wish me good luck and I'll be checking out different stories!
Day two isn't far away and time is the only healer
Hi @br893,
Welcome to the forum and thank you for reaching out to share your story with us. I’m sorry to hear you lost your mum and you’ve described very vividly how as you say you ‘lost the plot’ . What I can see is how you appeared to cope with the loss of your mum by going to casinos, drinking and gambling the pain away. You give a real sense of finding some solace within those places. But now you want that to stop before it causes more harm to you and those around you. As you said, you want to make sure you don’t harm your relationships, and this seems like a really great focus for you, to make sure you feel connected again to those that love and care for you.
If you need further support, Cruse is a good place to start if you feel you need some support around losing your mum Home - Cruse Bereavement Support
If you want further support GamCare has 1-2-1 support with a practitioner https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/find-local-support/
Here you can learn how to self exclude: Self-exclusion - GamCare
And of course the helpline is open 24hours a day where you could talk further about what you might need including if you feel like you need some help with your drinking, they will be happy to discuss and refer or signpost you to other services that can help: 0808 8020 133
Keep us posted and congratulations on day 1
All the best
Jane
Forum Admin
Hi
Just wanted to say welcome, and I wish you lots of luck with your journey. It is not an easy one, but a very rewarding one. Keeping a journal has helped me, also reading others stories and keeping track of how much money I am saving each day due to not gambling. It is a real pleasure to see that number go up, and also a real pleasure to see my bank balance not being rapidly depleted. Stay safe and gamble free x
Hi
The only way recovery happened for me was by attending GA Recovery meetings.
By setting a healthy boundary you are starting to value your self.
Dave L
Affected by gambling?
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