Hello, first time trying!

Hi Matt,

my names David,i am also quite new on here (3days) so not in position to offer advice as such, but just coming on here and reading everyones diaries and posts in the forum has been a help to me so far, lets me know im not the only one who suffers from gambling addiction,ive been gambling for 30 years, in that time the longest ive abstained for was about 6 months, then started betting small thinking i could control it, but it dosent work for me i ended up worse than before, in the end.

anyway i hope you pick up some good advice on here, you have already made step one joining here.

good luck mate, david.

Hi mate! I've been reading on here for a while but never joined! But its got way out of hand and needs sorting and know people on here can be very helpful!
Never been able to bring myself to tell people but know it is time! When the gambling is sorted then i can easily pay off my debts and still have some left over!
I always bet my leftover money and my debt money to gamble! And id love to stop gambling that is treat the girlfriend sometimes and even myself, that's what id prefer to spend my money on, not this gambling :/ but always thought id win back my losses

Good luck to you aswell!

im like you,ifind it hard to talk to people about it, its a very embarrasing thing to me and has always made me feel like i couldnt open up to anyone about my problems, at least on here you have an outlet to people who understand what your going thru.

was looking at the forum on my phone at work at dinner time this afternoon, friend sitting next to me asked what i was looking at and i told him, i felt bad admitting it to someone i know, but just sick of lying all the time so i told him.

anyway good luck mate, david.

Hi Matt,

I was in a similar predicament when I joined the site first time around in January. I knew my gambling was problematic but felt too embarassed to tell anyone so I came on here.

unfortuately as great as this site is there is no one to monitor us when we are offline so I slipped back into gambling.

i finally confronted my issues to my partner about 2 months ago and it was the best thing I've ever done.

like you, not being able to treat her used to kill me and she never understood why I had no money and she was always struggling

we are now better than ever and have a plan in place for me to pay 'us' back as luckily I now owe nothing to any lenders and we can afford to go out and I'm buying her stuff too.

i am even watching sport not tempted to gamble, it's early days but I think me telling her about it is the start of my recovery.

i am not sure if you can tell you girlfriend or not but just take my warning as I relapsed and ran up another £5k or so of debt. I'm not saying we are all the same but trying to do it alone can be damaging to you and all the people around you!

keep posting and good luck buddy!

Its nice to see comments like that! I will tell her! Need everything out in the open, then i can not only get help professionally but also from loved ones!
I know other people are in worse positions but i felt like i was on my way to that state and stopping it whilst i can
thanks for the comment! Makes me realise there is a light at the end of the gambling tunnel!
hope you continue your recovery mate!

Another one here who took too long to confess...I'm not saying it was easy when I did but I am happily on the road to recovery now & know for a fact (having spent many years trying) that I wouldn't have made it here alone.

Be prepared for the hurt it will cause though, money aside (because you don't sound like you are in the hell that many of us get into) it is the deceit that is damaging to many partners.

Well done for admitting that you have a problem, the next step is to let go of the losses...That was one of the hardest things for me to accept even after spending years & thousands of pounds of borrowed money chasing them. I win now by choosing 'No' each day.

Hope it all goes well when you tell her & welcome to recovery - ODAAT

Yeah I'm lucky in the sense that I've realised my problem.whilst the debt I've gathered is still manageable! Glad i haven't got myself into deeper trouble!
i know i cant do this alone but i will get through it! 🙂

That's the best attitude to have...sensible and determined.

i too had a very manageable debt but given 6 months more than could have been a far different story...the weight off your shoulders when you tell them is an unbelievable feelings, like being freed from the cycle!

4 days in and not had a bet, today and yesterday were bad watching the football whilst not having a bet on it, took my mind off it by doing some overtime at work!
So far so good!