Help!

Unbelievably I'm parked outside my local bookmakers scared to go in to self exclude myself. I think I'm going to wait and see how this one to one support pans out before I self exclude. In an ideal world all I would do is cut down from being an addicted gambler to a social one (fixed odds coupon on a Saturday kinda thing) but I don't think that could be possible. D

there is no social gambling you can not control your urges this much i can say with utter confidence stop and exclude your self

From every form of gambling don't even play the lotto in my youth i managed to stop with will power alone

and for over twenty years i did not gamble worked hard and tried to raise a family home etc

Within two years of making a monumental mistake i lost every thing i had worked for

I know you are 100% correct but I now find myself fantasising about sitting in a pub on a Saturday afternoon watching the results come in. It's not even something I would normally do (due to child commitments etc). This is only after making the statement that I will stop gambling from yesterday afternoon. I'm just looking for some sort of normality I suppose and some "normal" social interaction.

Viagrafalls wrote:

I know you are 100% correct but I now find myself fantasising about sitting in a pub on a Saturday afternoon watching the results come in. It's not even something I would normally do (due to child commitments etc). This is only after making the statement that I will stop gambling from yesterday afternoon. I'm just looking for some sort of normality I suppose and some "normal" social interaction.

You need to find something to fill the void left when you stop Gambling.

I wish i could find something that gives me the same buzz thrill

I used to get the same thrill from computer games in my youth, but poor eye sight stops me from playing them again. .

I honestly don't know what will give me that rush. I'm going to try and live without it though. I'm hoping one to one counselling may give me the boost I need. How long have you stopped gambling for?

Not going to lie to you viagrafalls

I am ashamed to say i still am

but i still remember the tools i used when i stopped for over twenty years a

I purchased a Sega megadrive and gamed for hours.

That and carrying no Cash with a determined mind set to stop helped me beat

But this time i am doing so well.

marko12312 wrote:

Not going to lie to you viagrafalls

I am ashamed to say i still am

but i still remember the tools i used when i stopped for over twenty years

I purchased a Sega megadrive and gamed for hours.

That and carrying no Cash with a determined mind set to stop helped me beat the illness

But this time i am doing so well.

but please dont let my comments about still gambling in any way effect your recovery.

Remember i did stop for over twenty years

My situation is pretty dire and i have lost hope.

I am suffering from depression have lost everything i cared for.

not looking for pitty just trying to help people before they end up as badly as i have.

middle aged unemployed etc

It's got to the stage now that I can't even go a day never mind 20 years! That's something you should be proud about. Part of my problem is that I'm a taxi driver. Cash drips in on a regular basis and, floods out on a regular basis. If I don't get out there to work then I earn nothing 🙁 In every area where I'm sitting in between jobs there's a bookmakers luring me in. This morning I went into autopilot and drove to one. Within 20 mins I had lost all the money I had in the world (again). It's like the rational part of my brain is missing when it comes to risking money on anything. God knows how you were able to stick it out for 20 years mate when one day seems like an infinity just now to me.

Positive steps made today. I invested in some passport style photos and I've self excluded from 4 bookmakers. Going in was the hard bit but at least that's fine now 🙂 I'm also attending a GA meeting this evening and hopefully that will give me the added boost that I need to help quit once and for all. With a bit of luck I will start to see my gambling free days add up 🙂 I still have a proper shaky and anxious feeling going through my body though 🙁 This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever attempted but in a few months I will start to see the financial rewards. I've also purchased a guitar based game for my sons x box which I intend playing. There's a jamming mode on it seemingly so will use some spare time with my guitar linked upto this and see how it goes 🙂

Viagrafalls wrote:

Positive steps made today. I invested in some passport style photos and I've self excluded from 4 bookmakers. Going in was the hard bit but at least that's fine now 🙂 I'm also attending a GA meeting this evening and hopefully that will give me the added boost that I need to help quit once and for all. With a bit of luck I will start to see my gambling free days add up 🙂 I still have a proper shaky and anxious feeling going through my body though 🙁 This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever attempted but in a few months I will start to see the financial rewards. I've also purchased a guitar based game for my sons x box which I intend playing. There's a jamming mode on it seemingly so will use some spare time with my guitar linked upto this and see how it goes 🙂

Hope it works out for you

You have already scored a reseult coming to this site and joining G/A.

One more thing the longer you stay gamble free the easier it gets.

Yesterday was day one for me i may never get my family or home savings etc back but i mite get my self respect

Yesterday i recived some back money not a lot but could have gambled for the day on it I said to my self fxxxk it i wont.

So i bought a new laptop for my youngest girl for school she really needs it for her exams next year

to me that was a victory.

Hi I have just joined this site and I think you just being in here means you really want to stop I know I do! Hope your getting in ok x

quote=Viagrafalls]

Hi there. This is hopefully the start of me being on the road to recovery. I've arranged for somebody through Gamcare to contact me to organise one to one support (G A worked for me for a short while but I don't believe in the "greater power" thing). I'm not sure how this whole thing will work but this time I'm dedicated to putting 100% effort into stopping gambling. It's taken over a huge part of my life and now it stops. If anybody has any advice then please help. Thanks. D

That's a massive victory Marco 🙂 Money well spent instead with a feeling of pride rather than money wasted with a load of self loathing 🙂 That's me done my 1st day 🙂 I got the GA meetings day wrong. It's tonight instead but I'm still determined to go. I certainly hope it gets easier as I've had to regulate my breathing a few times today. Also hope, Kwoods1111, that you're doing well. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work the 3 of us will start putting numbers on our gamble free days 🙂

For the first time I've actually felt pretty good about stopping gambling. I've set myself a wee goal that I will buy my 4 year old a Scotland strip so he can wear it whilst we watch Scotland get pumped from Georgia and Germany. That's given me an added incentive to not gamble until I buy it on Friday afternoon 🙂 Hopefully I can start enjoying watching the football from now on in instead of looking for next goal scorers, half time and full time results etc.

Gambling seems to be on my mins constantly just now but I know I will make it through until tomorrow. I've got a GA meeting tonight which I'm worried about. I don't want anybody who knows me to be there. That scares me a little. Having to tell somebody that I know the extent of my problem. The enormity of my debt scares me and I'm going to have to admit defeat and seek advice about it. If I have to lose the house then I suppose there's nothing else for it. Not a nice feeling though. Just now I don't feel so positive as I did earlier today. Everything just seems so dull without the thrill of gambling. Hopefully after this meeting tonight I will get my positivity back but for now I just feel like a sad, lonely, numb person who is going through the motions of life. In my head I'm likening the way I feel to heroin addicts going cold turkey (train spotting-esque). This really isn't easy for me and I'm only one day gambling free 🙁