I am writing to say hello and continue with my steps to recovery and a life free from gambling. I have been gambling as an addict for over 10 years now and although I havent gambled since December this is because I have spent the last 6 weeks in prison. That is what gambling has cost me. Christmas with my wife and 2 children. A total breakdown of a marriage. Not to mention the hurt and pain I have caused to those around me who were there to help. My addiction is Fobts and roulette. I have spent thousands of pounds on these machines and denied my children a future. Over the last four years I have had significant periods of not betting. Gaining my wifes trust only for something to happen to trigger a need to gamble.
I am now at rock bottom and facing a very uncertain future. But I know that I never want to enter a betting shop again.
In the past I have tried to beat this addiction on my own. But now I accept that I need to get help and a network of support to help me achieve my goal of rebuilding my family and giving them a reason to be proud of me.
Howard.
Hi Howard
Sorry to hear of your situation over the past couple of months and can only imagine what you have gone through ! You have taken the first big step by coming on here and posting and hopefully reading others posts as I find this help me a lot. I can imagine how you are feeling with the breakdown of your marriage as the same has happened to me and my wife wants nothing to do with me at the moment and rightly so for what I've done to her and my 2 sons and this breaks my heart. I never got into fobt or roulette and thank god I never as I dread to think where I would be today ? They say it takes you to hit rock bottom to start your recovery. You will find a lot of support on these forums and also attending a local GA meeting if you can, I would also phone the gamcare help line and get advice and maybe councilling? Hope you get sorted and I will look out for future posts !
All the Best
Darren
Hello HH72
Welcome to the forum It sounds like you are having a very difficult time there is other help and support available there is a helpline open 8am -midnight and the contact number is 0808 8020 133 and as woodley3 has said there is counselling available to you. There is no cost for counselling and up to 12 sessions are available and services are across the uK advisors can help you find your nearest service.
There is also GamCare chatrooms available throughout the day which is peer support which you may want to use as well to develop your network of support http://www.gamcare.org.uk/chatroom
Keep posting we are here to support you
Take care
Forum admin
Hi Howard,
Welcome, i've only recently joined this forum but in the couple of days i have been here have found a place that can open up some doors that you may of thought were closed before. Reading other peoples stories and sharing yours can take some of the stress off your shoulders. We're all here for the same reason no matter how big all small and we all want the same thing. I am in £25k worth of debt and to some that may not sound like much, but to others its everything and then some.
Look forward to your posts
Cav
Thank you all for your support. Through reading the many posts I know that I am not alone. The hardest aspect of all this is that my wife wont talk to me at the moment. I know that gambling has cost me everything and right now I have no urge to gamble. I find that I get really angry when gambling adverts appear on tv or the radio. If I was PM for the day I would ban them.
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