It has to stop now

Hi Albion100 and welcome to the Forum,

You probably know that you have to get a plan in place by next payday to stop the rot. Let us know how you are progressing.

Best Wishes.

It is a very vicious circle to break.

A lot of us followed a similar pattern and often skint sometimes within hours of being paid , try and talk to someone about your problems and try and break the endless cycle you are in at the moment.

thanks for the comments.

it does seem like i make all the right noises about quitting gambling when i have lost all my money so i will be looking to having some therapy and stayin off gambling for good now.

I started writing a journal. It felt silly at first, but it does make a difference reading yourself in those moments of depression when you feel better again and want to gamble. I also keep track of days since I last gambling and if I fail, I write in red FAILURE beside it just to remind me. Keep it up, I am in the same boat!

Hi albion

Nothing much more humiliating than losing your pay just after it arrives and yet you have bills to pay then its the endless mind searching of how to rob peter to pay paul. Social life....afraid not...treats...cant afford anymore...bills...can i pay that next month. Endless torture for a few hrs of masochistic fun!

But the good news as i have found is that with the help of this site and the people on it who can relate to you ......and...with the belief and willingness to beat addiction...you can achieve a happier existence and enjoy peace of mind which is priceless.

Embrace the site...the key to my recovery is writing a diary and reading other posts,taking advice and when you think your strong enough using your experiences to help others.

Stay strong

Hi Albion we are all in the same boat. Ive been there and Im back there again now facing loads of problems.It hurts everyone around you and mostly it hurts you the most, to me its like self abuse and when I think about it like that I wouldn't dream of inflicting physical pain on myself so why do the gambling.It doesn't matter about all these problems that come with this horrible addiction if we can fight the demons of gambling all the other stuff can be dealt with. Take one day at a time and keep telling yourself you dont need it. I dont need it but sometimes part of my head tells me that you do. When that happens I say to myself no,there are better things in life than throwing 500 quid in a slot machine.That part of the head that is the good loving husband and great dad is getting stronger with each day that goes by. I'm getting happier with each day that goes by despite the other problems that are on the way. I really love my family and you know what, I'm beginning to like myself now too. You can do this because I can do it. It wont ever leave me I have to live with it for the rest of my life,we are all ill but we can manage the condition and live a happy life, money isn't. everything it comes and goes but family and true friends will stick with you.

You need help like the rest of us but help is there, you also need to really want to stop. If you have both of them you can do it and be proud of yourself for doing it. Dont ever give up you can beat the demons. Its hard at first but it does get better and it wont be long before you get a good nights sleep and start to smile again.

Keep us posted and keep talking.

im the same as you albion 100, its taken over my life.

i like roulette in casinos and the stupid games in the bookies, dog bets ect.

iv had problems before and managed to wrangle my way out, now i feel this is my last chance.

i have a lovely wife and daughter and i keep gambling, what is wrong with me.

looks like we are all on a tough journey together.......!

thanks for the comments of support everyone, its very early days and i suppose its easy to quit gambling when you have nothing its when the finances start coming back to normal that the complacency starts, this has been the case with me on numerous attempts to abstain over the years but i need to keep reminding myself of the many dark days that gambling has bought me, at work there is a huge gambling culture which i need to avoid but i can't ask everyone to stop because i created the gambling culture i just need to keep on my toes and take it one day at a time

I'm in the same boat, wasting all my wages away so soon after getting paid! I have done for the past 8months, online slots is my kryptonite. I've signed up to so many online Casinos it's unreal, depositing ridiculous amounts. I'd may as well just chuck my money down the drain! You have identified you have a problem and you're trying to do something about so credit to you for that but yeah the real struggle is when you have money, you just have to stay strong and stay on the path.

All the best carl88, you have made a start, just be strong, iv had a very bad day today, been at home most of the day, very bored, and I have tried to keep busy so I don't think about it, I seem to have a dark cloud over me today, perhaps a bit of cold turkey, don't know why I feel like it, probably my addiction wanting me to gamble, well tough, cos I ain't!!!

Best of luck with beating this thing Carl I think the only thing we can all do in these early stages is put as many barriers in place as possible because eventually money is going to creep back into our lives but this time I really want to stay gamble free and stop living this life, my downfall in past attempts to stop has been saying to myself things like just £5 on a Saturday won't do any harm but that's all, as we all know that just doesn't work because eventually it gets back to how it was and totally consumes us

Hit the nail on the head albion.

Everytime i have went into meltdown started with the fanciful idea i could control myself. Just a coupon on a saturday or asmall bet on the horses but as soon as that first win or lose happens i want more.

Best not to go there. Enjoy the football for what it is,no screaming for a correct scorer.

Your right dez it just doesn't work, I was at a point where the idea of watching football without having a bet made no sense and all your doing is watching your goal scorer or whatever and not the game itself plus there's the Cheltenham festival coming up which always meant time off work for me if I still had funds but this year I'll be working longer hours to get through it, it can be done pal

Hello everyone thanks for the comments that have been posted I just thought I'd check in while its the first weekend of being gamble free and it's usually the weekends that are totally taken up with gambling for me, anyway I've got my little lad staying with me all weekend and we've got the swimming baths shortly and the rest of the weekend I'll be kept busy, I started therapy on Thursday which was good I'm looking forward to the next session and I'm starting feel optimistic, stay strong everyone