I might have a problem

Hello Kazza, 

Welcome to the GamCare forum and thank you for sharing your story. I am sure you will get plenty of support and advice from our other members. 

It sounds like you are taking some positive steps forward. Well done for closing the accounts. You might find it useful to speak to our advisers about how this is affecting you. They are also able to refer you for one to one treatment if you felt like it could be beneficial. You can contact them by calling our HelpLine on 0808 8020 133 or you could use our Livechat option. 

For now, take care and keep posting. 

Rebecca 

Forum Admin. 

Hi Kazza,

First of all well done for admitting you may have a problem and seeking help. It’s the toughest step.

Yes, the loss of money always hurts and most gamblers or certainly problem ones you speak to will admit that the instinct is to chase those loses. Obviously the stock markets are very volatile at the moment so there is lots of opportunity as well much higher risk. 

If you do put yourself in the gambling addict or problem gambler category (there are questionnaires you can do to see the severity) then you have done really well to stop and close your account and seek help. This site is full of great info and support.

As much as the loss of savings hurts you need to accept its gone and try and realise if you carried on those loses would be far worse and could possibly get you into debt. Over 20 years for example I’ve probably ended up with £80k of debt from gambling. You have to accept its gone. 

If you stop now the resentment of the financial losses will go in time and your financial position will improve. And as all problem gamblers will tell you, life is generally much better gamble free.

Good luck.