It has to stop!

Willpower. You need to stop thinking about gambling. I am going through the same thing. It dominates my mind. Think about your daughter and the money you put into gambling put that into her bank account instead. 

Hi Mike,

I am 36 mate, with a very young son, and have been battling, like everyone else here,  and now am gamble free for 75 days. Obviously we want to protect our children and make sure they don't get caught up in our faults, and attempt to make sure they don't go down similar paths - that is any parents nightmare.

Talk to someone, please. It is so easy to once you get started and continue the practice of discussion. Having "willpower" isn't enough, you need guidance, discussion and realization, and willpower will not give you these alone. Support is important to beating this and maintaining abstinence afterwards. I tried to beat it alone 3 months before I actually understood it was a far bigger problem than I had anticipated. The result was that I doubled by debts before I actually took control of my life. Once I let others know about it, and decided to partake in counselling, I slowly discovered myself again and what was important TO ME. Gambling was not, AND IS NOT, important, it was an means to an end, and that end very very very rarely, pretty much never, came to fruition. All it left me was farther from my goals.

You are young and have a lot of time left on this planet, much time to spend with your daughter and other individuals as you see fit - don't throw that away pursuing an addiction that doesn't provide you with any sense of worth or value. Seek help in whatever way is best for you, but in my experience, talking with someone, or several people, about gambling has been incredibly powerful in my personal growth and realization of my values and what is important. Financially speaking, you can also get help if you feel you need it, but first seek help verbally from someone you trust, or from counselling or a group.

You have been gambling a long time, nearly half your life it sounds like. I bet that 90% of that hasn't provided the outcome you hoped for and have caused you much grief along the way. If that is the case, use this as fuel to get the help you need and change your mentality. You need to want to beat this and get better, so you need to have reasons for that. Find those reasons, write them down, and talk talk talk. I promise that will get the ball rolling to beating this addiction and will help with your personal growth. The rest will fall into place when the time is right, but if you cannot find the "willpower" to start the process, you will eventually fall back into the habit your trying to break.

Put up Blockers on websites, self-exclude from casinos & bookies, get help with banking to put restrictions on your money or have someone manage it, and for YOU, go talk to someone.

You can do this, be strong for YOU and for your daughter. It is never too late, it just takes one decision and one step in the right direction. After that, just keep moving forward, day by day, and eventually you will begin to feel control again. You are human, you are loved, and you are able to beat this. 

Stay Strong and Stay Positive!

JB

JB, well done on being gamble free for 75 days. 

When I first started gambling I thought it was just for fun and I would never become addicted but now several years later... Here I am. I hope too to report to be gamble free.