I'm glad I found this forum it is what I need right now. I'm a 42 year male with a gambling problem. I had quite a major problem with gambling 5 years ago, but managed to give it up and clear my debts. During those 5 years I never really thought about gambling, and if I did I could easily rationalise it in my head and talk myself out of it. However, 6 weeks ago I was getting abit stressed about some other things in my life, and i started to get this really strong urge to gamble again. This feeling just didn't go away for some reason, So I placed one bet thinking if I just saw it as a bit of fun, and kept it to a small stake, then I would be fine. Obviously as an addict this is the worst thing I could have done. I soon lost all control and within in these last six weeks I have done much more damage than I did five years ago. 3 weeks ago in the midst of a gambling frenzy I made the huge mistake of taking out some payday loans to cover my gambling. I just took out more and more loans, absolutely convinced I would have a really big win and pay everything back. I lost everything and more. 5 years ago I only gambled on sport, but this time round I've discovered online slot machines and live roulette, and needless to say I've lost so much money I'm in serious debt right now. On Tuesday I was in so much despair I called a debt charity, and I'm so glad I made that decision, because I was in a really really bad way. I can now see a way out without gambling my way out of debt. obviously I'm really angry with myself for being so stupid, but I know endlessly beating myself up about it will make things worse. So I will see what happens. I know why I gamble and what my triggers are, but I also know when I get into a certain state of mind, nothing can stop me. Im not in a relationship and I don't have any dependants, so the gambling effects no one but myself. however having no one else around is possibly the reason I started gambling again in the first place. thanks for listening.
Hello Granite,
Welcome to the Forum. I am glad to see that you managed to gain control over your financial situation and are able to put things into perspective regarding what happened. Also, it shows a great strength of character the fact that you were able to stay away from gambling for five years without any support and I am sure you can do it again. I would encourage you to open up to receiving support, as it is a difficult task overcoming the addiction on your own and it doesn’t have to be that hard, since there is support available. As you said, not having people around may have been the reason for relapsing. I would like to encourage you to contact GamCare and talk to an advisor about accessing some face-to-face counselling. It may help to share what you are going through within a safe setting.
We're open from 8am until midnight, 7 days a week. You're welcome to contact us on our freephone 0808 8020 133 or alternatively, use the Netline:
http://secure.gamcare.org.uk/netline
Best wishes,
Ana
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