Escapism...

You've come to the right place Ginger... keep me updated and tell me how you're getting on tomorrow morning, noon and night. Just keep posting as there are always people listening.

Hi Ginger,

Welcome to the Forum!

You have shown much courage to admit to a gambling problem and it is a great first step that you have taken. I am sorry to hear that you feel that you have lost so much in your life and that you often feel low about yourself. It can be very isolating to stop gambling by yourself and you say that you lack support.

We are here to support you and I hope that you will find this Forum helpful. Maybe you would like to join a chatroom at some point, too. If you would like a one to one chat, you are very welcome to contact an advisor on the HelpLine on 0808 8020133 or on the NetLine http://www.gamcare.org.uk/support-and-counselling/frontline-services/netline#.VbX_FC1wZ3Q

Keep posting, Ginger, and keep going!

Kind wishes

Gabriele

hey addicted ginger , your not alone , this forum is a hidden society and many people embarking of the rocky road of gambling and other issue we all have , you can bounce back from this , eradicate the gambling and focus on the gym and get fitter , then find another girl , and start saving your money and before you know it your be in a better palce , keep posting ill be here , probably be moaning or asking help of others with more life experience , we can learn and bounce of each other stay strong , or the alternative be life of misery and isolation if you carry on gambling and feeling low 🙂

Spot on spraggy wish i had listened earlier to the wise advice on here

cheers dude , breaks my heart some of the stories here , im a CG and i can,t stay totally clean but with this forum as inspriration im going stay strong and try live a good life with good things in it and everyone,s recovery is indidvidual to them so all you can do is listen and try do the right thing , how you now ? u still gambling ?

I'm mentally in a bad place. When you stop gambling or try to, the endorphins sink to rock bottom. I have currently broke into a pension plan to give me some funds to make life more bearable, l gambled one third of it away in two weeks. I now i know have to stop, otherwise my house will have to go. So i closed access to the casino this morning, (shut all on-line accounts a month or two ago) currently self-excluding from every potential bookies my car can reach on way home. Its so hard to take the losses, i mean if you have £250 and lost it, thats probably recoverable through work over a 12 month period, but if you have lost £K125, its never coming back. Thats real mental torture to lose that amount. So thats how I am, (f....d up) how are you, have you stopped?

yh im not in a bad place mate , ive not stop gambling and its caused massive rows with the girlfriend and turns secretive and i got a tendancy to blow hard money on FOTB recently which im really trying not to do , not having cash and bank cards when i go to work helps me but i find a way if im on one , i know this forum about recovery and im not really got my heart in it to quit fully but i knows its bad and im posting and reading and trying to make friends and really enjoy the forum but i know all about that heavy heart feeling of loosing loads and wanting to curl up , its the chasing that kills you , like u said £250 a month on a blow out dealable if you have a job but thousands is just unacceptable over the years as other ppl have assests we just have bad memeory of looses and regrets , chin up , this is life its a rollercoaster , its only money , learn move on , keep in touch where in uk u from ?

Hi all,

I am here and having a bit of a low day. Met up with a girl I used to go to school with today and spoke through my problems. She said to me that I can give it up and she is there for me. Which is lovely of her. She just reminded me that I have a good family, good friends, a career on the up and, although I have bet alot of money, I still have enough money that I am hardly in trouble, but did accept the fact that if I keep going the way I am, I will not have that stability anymore.

She asked me what happened to change the guy she knew at school to what I am today and I went through everything with her too - like you guys, she said it is still there, I have not changed so much she cannot recognise me. She did say that I just need to get the self confidence back which comes from not gambling and doing what I am good at (Lets be honest, If I was good at gambling, I would not neccessarily be here!).

It is comforting to realise there are non-judgemental people out there who are willing to help.

Hi,

You'll see from my profile that I wouldn't dream of judging but I do recommend some strong barriers and positive steps to address your gambling. My husband also thought wrongly that he could afford it ... To be fair he has stopped or at least paused.

Get blockers for your phone, laptop and desktop - someone else needs to set the passwords -and self exclude. Effectively, no doors left open. I recommend permanently by snail mail to the head office of each website quoting your name, postal and email addresses, date of birth and passwords. Ask them not to contact you again. Then if you change your mind in a weak moment it will be too late. So if you do this one, then you really do mean it.

A non Internet phone? Not trendy but you can't gamble on it. May be drastic but it should help.

The other weakest link is pay day. Hand over your finances or at least arrange for direct debits to pay debts and essentials and to move the money to live on out of harms way, all on pay day itself. You may need to swap your Visa card for a basic cash card. Or open an instant saver operated by cash card and move your salary into it by DD on pay day. Again, do what it takes.

Finally, you will need help, GA and or counselling.

These measures take a lot of doing but if you can do them, you'll be well on the way.

Good luck,

CW

Hey CW,

Oh I do not think I can afford it - not for a second. My friend was just saying that I have not lost everything so I need to get myself help before I do. Really sorry if I sounded like I was condoning my actions in anyway.

I have now self excluded from all betting websites that i was ever a member of and I have put an over 18 block on my phone so I cannot access betting apps.

I have taken this very very seriously - I can promise you that.

Join the 2015 challenge thread addicted, post a brief description about yourself, how many days gamble free you are, and reaed the rules of the thread, its the best thing you will ever do. good luck.

Not being judgemental but...The self exclusion's obviously good but is it wise for you to have unfettered access to money or credit? For my husband, it got out of hand.

Wish you well with it.

CW