Im in my 30s and have gambled pretty aggressively for 13 years now.
To summarise at the lowest points without rambling to much, iv lost relationships, jobs, jailtime, been made homeless, self harmed, literally everything which has stemmed from gambling at some point. All of which i find embarassing to talk about in detail. Iv been to GA etc previously but find it abit cringey/not really my style in all honesty.
Ill control my addiction for a few months with daily limits etc, then relapse and lose big & go off the rails again. Im quite hot headed and turn into a self pitying angry idiot when im spiralling & chasing losses.
Im making this post though as i finally feel like enoughs enough (although iv said it 1000 times but feels different this time). Iv commited to gamstop and banned myself for the maximum 5 years, deleted every App assosiated to betting (onlines always been my problem) and look forward to a life of none gambling stress! Iv finally come to the realisation that there is no "controlling it" for me and totally stopping is the only way.
Thanks for listening, have never posted on a forum in my life!
Dear @bluelagoon
Thank you for sharing your story and to say that you have taken a really positive step by reaching out to us on the forum.
Should you need need further support/advice please do not hesitate to contact us via the Netline or Helpline on 0808 8020 133 to speak with an adviser.
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Forum Admin
Hi, one thing that has helped me out is the fact I can no longer get credit as I maxed everything out completely. several loans, 5 payday loans and 12 credit cards at one point. I lost a lot of money and my house. I even tried to take my own life twice. Anyways I took ill and couldn't meet the repayments and it all spiralled out of control from there. I was renting because I lost my house and then I got evicted from there after getting ill because I couldn't make the repayments. I went into default on all my credit which in turn blew the bottom out my credit rating, it went down to zero at one point but at least I couldn't get hold of any more cash so that kind of restricted my ability to gamble. I still can't get credit to this day which is a blessing in disguise TBH.
Hi, well done on commiting to Gamstop for 5 years. You may know, but if not, there are other things you can put in place as well to stop temptation. Install a blocker on your phone, I have Betblocker and signed up for 5 years and as far as I know it cannot be removed. Also contact your Bank and ask them to put a block on gambling transactions, some do some don't so if not you could change to a bank that does.
Also, i would recommend speaking to someone at gamcare, they are really helpful and arranged some phone counselling for me which really helped to be able to talk to someone without any judgement.
As you say there is no controlling this addiction you have to commit full on to stop. We all start as a bit of fun but get in deep and only continue as we are chasing the losses hoping for the jackpot we know will never happen. Once you stop you need to accept the losses and draw a line under them and look forward as we can't change what has happened just make sure it doesn't happen anymore.
Good luck
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