Guess in other words “ own counselling” .
Maybe this isn’t the place to talk openly about our private lives. Guess that is what counselling is for. But we can still speak about it to *** how it effects us in general. I thought about this topic only because I noticed a few things about myself. Those things could be good for us new people here to recognise.
I noticed things like when I was loosing I brought out sides in me I don’t like. I started lying mildly, got angry and a bit aggressive, crying, feeling disappointed of myself with guilt and shame. Now I guess we got some of that in common. Now here is what I thought some of the feeds in here could be used for: first of all - anything that springs to your mind, but in general: What did you do to address those feelings? I feel that we can help ourselves when starting knowing that we are not alone. It also helped me realising that those feelings were triggered by gambling and not necessarily representing you in everyday personality. Is it other aspects in our lives that got us into gambling or just my excuse? Maybe this is more for individual counselling after all? - your call!
Hi Olle.
I think that this is a perfect place to talk about whatever you think causes you to gamble so welcome to the forum.
My experience is that, whilst you are still gambling, it is virtually impossible to identify and address the root of what causes you to gamble (a vicious circle really!).
Once you have been free of gambling for a while, the mist starts to lift and you can start to realise what was driving the addiction in the first place.
I didn't have any counselling BUT it has worked for many many people and I would recommend it on that basis as it may help you to realise the cause of your gambling much quicker. Mine was more a battle, I dealt with the physical 'not gambling' first by putting every block in place I could think of which eventually allowed me to, as you put it, 'self counsel'.
Good luck in your recovery and best wishes.
Phil
There is a book called refuge recovery that has an inventory of questions that is helping me at this time. tara2
I found that counselling helps in the sense of having someone to talk to that doesnt judge you and you know it wont get back to people you know. It was hard at first especially for me as I am not the best at talking to people and it took a lot for me to even turn up.
I don't feel it helped me the gambling situation but at the same time I kind of think I didnt put enough in place to stop myself and would find reasons to justify the gambling. I feel like I have got to the reasons behind the gambling but I am yet to fully explore the issues and openly talk about them but I will need to at some point if I am to move forward.
I feel that we all need to believe in ourselves and realise that we can be happy and get out of this situation and hopefully in years to come we look back and see how we can change our path.
I am only on day 3/4 of not gambling but I find being on here and seeing other peoples storys help and dont feel so alone anymore.
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