Good afternoon all,
I am a couple of months GF & I find myself having to use different strategies to cope with this horrible addiction.
My life has changed so much for the better since quitting & I am saving money which feels amazing. At first I went complete cold Turkey with quitting, I had massive mood swings, headaches & really bad anxiety. However life does eventually get back to some kind of normality after the cold Turkey stage is over.
I love my sports, I love playing Blackjack & Poker & for me to quit that altogether was a big void in my life. In the 5 years of out of control gambling I have lost 100k. But I refuse to lose anymore.
The point I am trying to make is everyone’s way of beating this can be different, we are all individuals but battling the same illness yet we all respond differently to different techniques.
What I have learnt personally over these 2 months GF is that it wasn’t about the money for me, it was the enjoyment of playing that Blackjack hand or poker hand or placing the footy bet. I don’t need to put crazy money onto bets or any money for that matter to enjoy it, because the enjoyment for me is the taking part. I now deal with it by playing an APP on my phone, by using free chips, this App allows me to play the card games I love & also allows me to place football bets using free chips without losing any form of money.
People will say “ well it will lead back to betting real money again” Well for me personally it won’t, because I will not allow myself back to that horrible dark place that would result in losing my kids, wife & home along with everything good in my life. Gambling nearly took that away from me but I put everything into quitting & it’s paid off.
For me now, this is my way of dealing with it as an individual, it might not be the right way for most people but I know it’s right for me.
75 days gamble free is Jan 1st
100 days gamble free is Jan 26th
I will be back for both these important dates & I will be making new goals to smash through them as well.
Merry Xmas
Hi c17ort, we acknowledge that everyone is different, what people say is not only based on their own experiences but based on tried and tested methods of abstaining. I fall on the side of fake gambling games being a bad idea this is based on my experience that playing on fake games for fake money still gives me the same effect when winning especially. I feel for me that is a bad thing as not only do I worry that one day I will be tempted for real again but also the effects on my life from not gambling are so good and positive I'm scared of a negative pathway. I'm interested though how this works out for you
Ive seen rounders. I know what you are going through.No one here is judging what you do so rest easy with that. The facts of the brain is this. The more you repeat an action in the brain the more cemented it becomes. Meaning you are working in the cement between the tiles the more you keep on playing and everytime you repeat your action the more cement you are bringing to strengthen the wall. Change is not thinking about gambling nor being interested in continuing with it. Is that possible? Yes. Is it easy? No. An example is abstaining. That part sits in the prefrontal cortex of your brain (front) and works like a muscle. In effect you can abstain from something for about an hour then you become tired that is why many cold turkeys fail together with the fact that the "healing" industry conditions you to beleive that you will never get a hundred procent well. The idea is to change your mind to think out other paths and solutions for what it is your subconsious is compensating for. I am not going to go to far into that here but you should know that there are plenty of options for recovery and you need to look for them.
Best
C
Nobody has said anything to me negatively, this is the first time I have posted about the way “l” deal with it.
The point I was making is that whatever way people find to beat this is a good way.
I now play through my App knowing I cannot lose & I enjoy playing & taking part in something I enjoy for fun.
I will never go back to that dark side of my life, I have far too many good things in my life to lose. It’s a life lesson for me & I have many years ahead of me to make it right & put it down to just a bump in the road.
Have a great Xmas
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