Hi. I am new to this site. My single adult son lived away from home. He seemed to have a great life....good job, his own apt and lots of close friends. He kept fit and played football, managed and a committee member. We were in close contact both by phone and visits. Neither his family or close friends were aware he had a problem He asked us about ayear ago to help him with financial problems.We were supporting him sort this but then one day he said he was an addict. We were not aware how serious this was and he assured us he had stopped and didn't need any support his big problem was the financial mess! A month and a half later he commited suicide. My biggest regret is not being aware that gambling addiction is so serious.... There just seems to be no awareness in comparison with other addictions. I am devastated to have lost my precious son to a disease which is so hidden.
Hello Owl,
I’m sorry for the loss of your son, and for the shock and grief that you are experiencing.
You are welcome to talk with a GamCare adviser on our Freephone 0808 8020 133 for emotional support.
Here are some additional sources of support:
Cruse Bereavement Care 0844 477 9400
Survivors Of Bereavement by Suicide 0844 561 6855 (9am to 9pm daily)
http://www.uk-sobs.org.uk/index.htm
Samaritans 08457 90 90 90 (24 hours)
http://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/contact-us
Take kind care of yourself,
Forum admin.
Thanks for your sympathy and offer of support. There seems to be so much emotional support for people who have lost family through suicide .... As a group I would be interested to know if any funds are spent on any kind of awareness campaign so that parents and young people can be aware of this horrendous hidden addiction and the high incidence of suicide? Perhaps if I had known I could have cared for and saved my son's life and then no one would need to care for me!
Please let me know.
I have just read your thread, and I wanted to say from one fellow human being to another how sorry I am to read about the loss of your son. This addication leads you to believe that you can chase what you have previously lost, and regain some sort of financial orderliness again, in fact it just does the opposite ............. maybe that was what your son was trying to achieve, make good the wrongs of his financial mess. The gamblers on here know how bad the feelings are when you suffer major losses - I dont want to get into a ramble here about that, when your loss is so soon/raw, just to say reading on this site can be helpful at times to understand gamblers mind/issues. Again I am so sorry for you.
Hello Owl,
It is good that you’re aware of support that is available for you.
You’ve asked about awareness campaigns. BigDeal is the name of the GamCare website designed to raise awareness among young people. It gives information about how gambling works, advice about risks and guidance on where to get help. BigDeal’s design was based on feedback from young people on what they wanted the website to offer. GamCare has promoted the website through social media. Here is a link to the website and a couple related press releases:
http://www.gamcare.org.uk/new…mcarersquos_young_peoplersquo
http://www.gamcare.org.uk/new…welcomes_the_launch_of_bigdea
GamCare also published a report on preventing teenage problem gambling:
http://www.gamcare.org.uk/data/files/Beating_the_Odds.pdf
The Responsible Gambling Trust offers a website called GambleAware that aims to raise awareness of responsible gambling, including how to recognise problem gambling:
GamCare is commissioning the development of a new GamCare website to improve the services we provide. The new website will provide advanced self-help tools, new forums and will be optimised for mobile devices, so we hope that new users will find it engaging and easy to use.
Do feel welcome to call us on 0808 8020 133 if you would like to talk with a GamCare adviser.
Take care,
Adam.
Just gone 10 days without betting and last night lost £70, all good work ruined i feel like a worthless waste of space and the look in my wife's eyes confirms this, its impossible but back to my 4th g a meeting in the morning.
Hi there,
To start i would like to say how sorry i am to hear of what happened, it is a shame how addicted we become and the full extent of how we handle such loss.
I would like to say that i am appalled by the goverment, they seem to be cracking down on cigarettes, alcohol but has anyone else noticed that there is an increase in bookies and betmakers opening in towns and cities across the uk, how many online gambling sites there are and how many adverts on tv there are for gambling, it seems that they are allowing this to go on but gambling has such a mental impact on people that it needs to be dealt with. I too have thought about suicide, sorry to admit this, when my chips were down but you know what i realise before its too late is that my life is the one thing the house will never beat me on because im not going to let it and people need to rise up and become stronger by refusing to gamble, refusing to give there hard earned cash over to businesses that offer very little in return and i have realised this the hard way, i have lost so much from gambling but im hoping to gain so much by now refusing to stay strong and i think people need to do the same.
I know it is too little to late for your son and i am saddened by what has happened but if we can stop future people from going the same route then more needs to be done
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