how can i stop?

Hey Sarah...welcome. ..you will get all the support you need on here....loads of advice and ways to help you...I suggest you start with ringing gamcare....they are great....read some diarys...so many of us girls in here have become addicted to online slots...me includded....I came here 70 odd days ago...like you...down...sad...defeated...scared...angry...and much more....nothing is in un fixable my love....take one day at a time...wish you well xx

Hi Sarah, welcome to the forums , you will find lots of help and support here . You are amongst fellow compulsive gamblers here and we are all/have been in the same boat.

First thing is too put blocks everywhere now to try to stop the gambling, cut up cc, blocking software ect... you will find lots of good info on this site. You also need to try leave the losses behind you now , that money is away ... for good . its a lot of money to owe but it can be sorted in time.. gamble free .i lost £8k in 2 hrs online a year and 1/2 ago and others have lost 50k in one night so there are others who have been where you are.

Money can be got back Sarah , relationships , time and health cannot. This gambling is just stressing you out and making you ill. Try now to get into recovery of some sort ,either here using these forums and chat and the helpline ,Or even a ga meeting ...where you will get lots of help. Its all up too you now Sarah ,you must want to stop gambling and you must do it now , not tomorrow or next week ... do it now!. Ihave been in recovery from my gambling addiction only a few weeks but it already has made me a lot calmer and happier. Ive lost everything to this disease, marriage,relationships , house .. the lot is gone but im now hopefull that i can defeat this disease after it ruining my life for 8 years .

We cannot win because we cannot stop Sarah, try and stay gambling free one day at a time ,with help you and i and us all can have a happier gamble free life ! ... good luck and be strong !

Hi Sarajxo,

Thanks for your post, and well done for posting to the forum.

It seems like you’ve been struggling with your gambling problem all these 5years, and still been finding it difficult to stop.

That is not unusual though, as most people need professional help to overcome their gambling problem. You have to be patient with yourself, and take it step by step.

I’m glad for the advice and support that some forum members offered to encourage you to stop gambling.

It would be helpful to you to let go of all your losses, and to focus on your recovery, and to look forward to a gamble free future.

Maybe you would also like to join our live chat which is held twice daily from 2.00pm to 3.00pm and, 8.00pm to 9.00pm. The live chat is mostly attended by people in recovery or, their partners. You do learn from their experiences by listening to them and asking questions for clarity where necessary. You can register and join the chat by doing the following:- log into the forum first and then click on the following link

http://www.gamcare.org.uk/chat

You'll then be taken to a page where you can click on 'The GamCare chatroom' and join us.

Perhaps you’d like to contact our free phone help line on: 0808 8020 133, and speak to one of our advisers for further help and support.

Our services run every day from 8.00am to midnight.

Thanks once again for your post, and pls. keep posting.

Best wishes,

Beatrice

thank you to yous all for your encouragment and support i am determined to stop. i have now self excluded myself from all the sites that i have opened and now going to focus on saving up to pay back family and to save for my brothers wedding. and to focus more on my family. its going to be hard struggling already but i can do this.

good luck sarah be brave , it is progressive addiction and online is multiplying the dangers for a CG likeu s i lost a big chunk of my wages this month on roulette and scared, we have to stop , i have young girl myself , come on we can do this together

Hi Sara,

Well done on self excluding, first step in recovery. The second is sharing your problem with your partner ASAP. You have debt like I had on credit card to pay off. If you don't come clean now I reckon you'll get found out during your repayment plan!

It was really hard coming clean with my wife. All the upset and tears are something I don't want to go through again, so already that's an incentive for me not to gamble again. Put it this way, if can afford to repay the debt for the damage youve done without anyone knowing, I think you can afford to gamble again without anyone knowing. It's too easy to think WE can stop but we can't, we need help from others......

That's all I'd like to say, bedtime for me. Wishing you all the best.

Hello, Sarah,

Echo Shep. I wasn't told, it made a bad situation so much worse. It wasn't the money, that was galling enough, it was the deceit and betrayal. It was him living a lie and a double life for all that time. Not to mention the remoteness, secrecy, isolation, generally not being there in emotional terms.

It is the equivalent of your OH going off with a curvatious colleague (not saying he would do so) and arguing that you didn't need to know because it didn't mean anything, it happened in his spare time, no need to upset you, he was very careful not to pick up any nasty diseases, it's you he loves etc. All may well be valid, all ignore that going off with a curvatious colleague whilst in a relationship with you is wrong.

Two thoughts: Shakespeare said, "To thine own self be true." Going forward, recovery depends on that honesty.

Secondly, the difference between "we" and "I" is the difference between "well" and "ill". Recovery is yours, but you can't do it alone. You need to take the help that's out there if anything is to change. Convincing yourself that you don't need it isn't being true to yourself.

Wish you well,

CW

Hi Sarah

Like you I've been completely hooked on the online slots for the last two years and every month my ten year old daughter goes without nice things as a result. I have lied to friends and family to enable me to borrow money that I haven't been able to repay and am behind on bills and mortgage.

I thought I could beat this alone but last night having gambled all my months bill money again on the slots and lying awake stressing about what I was going to do I decided I had to take action.

I have found an application called "'infinite monkey' for phones iPads and laptops etc which gives you an extensive list of email addresses of all uk and Eu gambling sites and a template to send a email on mass requesting a lifetime exclusion of all of them. I don't know about you but for me a lot of the problem is such easy access at home when the urge to gamble pops in your head.

Gamcare are also arranging free professional counselling which I'm hoping with help me overcome this together with details of GA meetings.

Good luck with everything. I'm sure we can all overcome this problem with support from others and get our lives back! Xx