Depressed

Hello poblc, sorry to hear you too are struggling with a gambling addiction.

You have done exactly the same as me in the sense you moved from pc to iphone, i really reccomend putting a ban on your gambling sites just as i have done. Coming on here is a massive step to admit you have a problem and now you can recieve help from likewise people and the forum helpers on here.

Im no veteran but i have not gambled for 4 days 15 hours now to me that is a massive step and im proud of myself, each day you do not gamble you are winning my friend.

Do not let this curse bring you and your family down it will only get harder to stop in the end if you carry this on ( im sure you already know that ).

I am sorry to hear you got diagnosed with cancer no one needs to go through that, may i ask how the recovery has gone did you overcome cancer? And now your stuck with a gambling addiction?.

How do your family feel about your gambling have you spoke with them recently or is this the first you have spoke with anyone about it?.

Do not worry my friend we are all in the same boat here. All battling another day to stay clean, yesterday is the past, today is the present tommorow is the future. Do what you can today to create a better future for you and your family :).

Wow thanks for your support you have made me feel better. I have overcome cancer . It was easier than dealing with this illness of gambling . This is ruling my life. That is shy im on this site now. I have searched blocking iphone from gambling but no luck. Its no point putting a password in as i know the password. My family jo nothing. Ive spent my fathers inheritance and ive taken out loans now so ive got to stop or my children will suffer. Please speak to me every week i will try and help you if you can help me

Poblc i will speak to you everyday if this is what you need. Im glad to hear you overcome cancer it proves you are a strong person, if you can beat cancer you can use your strength in the sense you HAVE a purpose on this world a purpose you may not even realise yet, your family need you and you need them. So sorry to hear you spent your inheritance and now have loans etc its so sickening to hear, but i know exactly how you feel trying to recoup your losses. The only way to do that is never place a single bet again you are never losing and always winning :).

There is so many helpful human beings on this site you will find words of wisdom here. You can do this just as many others have also stopped, the trick is to stop everyday try not to turn to it when you are feeling depressed as this will only make you worse (when you lose and you will lose).

Have you got a financial plan will you be okay for money even though you have lost alot?. I hope this is the case and i hope this curse has not destroyed too much of you and your familys life.

The hardest thing to recieve when you are a gambler is support from your family as they simply do not understand ( or do not want to understand ). Things like this determine who we are in life its up to us to learn study and overcome this illness, one step at a time it can be done.

Kindest of regards, Luke805

Dont worry about blocking ban yourself from all future use of the gambling sites you use. Tell them you are an addict and you want a lifetime block :-).

Hi Poblwc, welcome to recovery 🙂

I think, given the lack of support you appear to have, it may be very helpful for you to ring Gamcare! Amongst other help, they may be able to advise you on a blocker for you phone but if there isn't one, I would suggest that you downgrade to a different phone that will suppprt blocking software! You need to break the Time-Money-Location triangle as removing one will prevent you gambling!

You will also need to accept that the money has gone & figure out a way for you to move forward for you as well as your children. As Luke says, you need to deal with these demons, One Day At A Time!

You will find a lot of suppprt & advice on here - Be strong - ODAAT

You can put blocking software on all your devices. Get someone to put password in for you, put a random password in one you will never remember write it down for when you are asked to confirm password then destroy. Change of email address. Attend GA, seek one to one counselling (although wouldnt advise gamcare counsellors) RBT, CBT, Smart Recovery. You have plenty of options to choose from to solve your emotional pain. Just know that gambling is the one thing that definatley wont solve them. The solutions are out there you just need to want to find them badly enough

Thanks Luke for your support. This REALLY helps. I live in a rural area, my husbands supports me financially which i am lucky to have. My wages pay the loan. I lost my mother to cancer when i was 11 and my died when i was 34 . I have to deal with other stresses and this is why i gamble. I started nov 2008 on galabingo. I lost £800 and then won. I banked this but then carried on. Galabingo have blocked me completely and even if i try and open another account they block me. Funbingo network cannot fo this. I am allowed to open loads of accounts and use same bank card!! I am discussions with them to stop my bank on future accounts

Happy to help i know exactly how your feeling as do the others. You have already had good responses from like-minded people.

Your lucky to have a husband that supports you financially alot of members probably do not have that! :-). Just think poblc there is no need to gamble just save your money let your husband pay for things and watch your bank grow save up for a lovely family holiday or if it is money you seek a business adventure.

Much better to work and make money than work and lose money only to keep working to pay for an addiction as i have been doing. Think positive in any way you can as this will only attract positive outcomes i find creating ideas that give you a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside helps alot while trying to cope with the gambling urges.

Finding something else to do with the time you will gain from not gambling is crucial, do some thing you enjoyed at a younger age maybe reading books or interacting with animals?.

Sounds like you have had a hard time with the loss of loved ones, they will be watching over you and feeling your pain right now. I feel we all have lessons thrown at us to overcome.

Do not know if anyone will remember what i am about to say but : my grandad was a part owner of rag trade ( yes the horse that beat redrum in the grand nationals ) he was a very successful man but ended up losing 1.2 million pounds in the 70's. A substantial amount of money! I never had the chance of spending time with him as i was 5 when he passed away, oh god i wish i could still have him around to talk to about where he went wrong. I do not know why i have written about him but i do feel like it was a curse passed down to me as he could not overcome this curse.

Does anyone else believe in things like this? That curses pass down through generations until they are overcome by a stronger being?.

Sorry poblc to turn your post into a question of my own lol.

Do not thank me as i find helping others aids me in my recovery too :-).

Kindest of regards, Luke805

Hi,

I too became addicted to those bingo sites but I am now gamble free for over 6 months . I really think you are ready to do this and turn your back on gambling forever. I hate bingo sites now. Nobody wins. It just looks like they win. The big winners are the biggest losers. They spend the winnings and more with it. Nobody withdraws. It is such a waste of your time and money. You are worth much more than that. If you read the reviews about bingo, you will see that the bingo sites make a fortune. You will never win.

Gambling is not helping your stress. It is increasing your stress. If you stay off the bingo sites for a very short time, you will see such a difference in your stress levels. You will sleep so much better. I too had cancer and fully agree with you that giving up gambling is a tougher fight. But you are on this forum now and we will all help you to resist those urges. Every time you feel like gambling, get on here and say how you feel and we will help you all the way.

Take care,

Suzy

Luke805 wrote:

Happy to help i know exactly how your feeling as do the others. You have already had good responses from like-minded people.

Your lucky to have a husband that supports you financially alot of members probably do not have that! :-). Just think poblc there is no need to gamble just save your money let your husband pay for things and watch your bank grow save up for a lovely family holiday or if it is money you seek a business adventure.

Much better to work and make money than work and lose money only to keep working to pay for an addiction as i have been doing. Think positive in any way you can as this will only attract positive outcomes i find creating ideas that give you a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside helps alot while trying to cope with the gambling urges.

Finding something else to do with the time you will gain from not gambling is crucial, do some thing you enjoyed at a younger age maybe reading books or interacting with animals?.

Sounds like you have had a hard time with the loss of loved ones, they will be watching over you and feeling your pain right now. I feel we all have lessons thrown at us to overcome.

Do not know if anyone will remember what i am about to say but : my grandad was a part owner of rag trade ( yes the horse that beat redrum in the grand nationals ) he was a very successful man but ended up losing 1.2 million pounds in the 70's. A substantial amount of money! I never had the chance of spending time with him as i was 5 when he passed away, oh god i wish i could still have him around to talk to about where he went wrong. I do not know why i have written about him but i do feel like it was a curse passed down to me as he could not overcome this curse.

Does anyone else believe in things like this? That curses pass down through generations until they are overcome by a stronger being?.

Sorry poblc to turn your post into a question of my own lol.

Do not thank me as i find helping others aids me in my recovery too :-).

Kindest of regards, Luke805

Luke you are very much like me. My mum had cancer - i had cancer, my dad wore glasses i had to wear glasses, my mum suffered with bad hay fever - i suffer from hay fever. My brother and sister are fine!!! They get nothing!! I did use - years ago - my dads inheritance to have a breast reduction - thats when the cancer was discovered. I have also used money for laser eye treatment - i have perfect vision so i have done good things with the money. You are very very good with words - you should hflp others as you talk a lot of sense and given me a lot if courage now to stop for good instead of talking about it. I have started a diary and will saving £10 for each i do not gamble to save for a holiday. As you say im lucky to have a good husband. If he knew he would be very disappointed in me and if i carry on mu marriage will be over. This forum will help me if there are people like you out there sho understands.

Sorry for misspellings!!

Thanks Suzy for you great comments. Again somebody else who understands. If there wasnt the internet i would be fine because i do not visit arcades (maybe once a year) and i never ever go into a bookies and i only buy a lottery ticket every six weeks as part ifa syndicate. I have probably won on these bingo sites 8 times out if 10 the problem is i always want more so the winnings turn into more losses. They take money from you straight away however winnings need to be 'approved' and id verification needs to be sent and they limit withdrawals to £1,000 a week or whatever and put the other winnings back into pending knowing full well it will be spent!!!

I would just say. Do not ask why you gamble but why you feel your pain. Recovery does not begin when we stop useing. It begins when we find & deal with the issues that took us to addiction in the first place. Gambling hasnt been your problem it has been your solution, an emotional anaesthetic to your feelings of helplessness to control your reality