Mike here, addict- need help

Hello there, in advance sorry about my english and my writting errors.

My name is Mike, i have 26 years old, i came from a good family, not wealthy, nothing like that, just hardwork people that build what They have.

I started gambling with 17 years, with low bets nothing dramatic, but started in a point that i was betting every

And every day, it became all the school breaks, and I would place bets, sometimes to try to get rich, and other times placing very "safe" bets, even though nothing was truly safe.

What ended up happening was that I would bet every day during every break to try to grow my money. I received 60 euros a month and, honestly, I don’t even know how I managed to eat.

The worst part came later: I started getting addicted to the casino and blackjack, that quick dopamine hit it brings, the possibilities—especially the chance of getting rich in an instant... things were starting to get out of control. Compared to now, it wasn’t that much back then, but just because it was less money didn’t mean it was less important.

Then I started working. I’m someone who is very “all or nothing”—I either bet, or I don’t put down a single cent and don’t think about it. The problem is that once I place that first bet, the train can’t stop, and it doesn’t matter if I start with 1, 10, or 100 euros. If I start losing, I’ll keep going to try to recover. In that first job, I managed to save some money because I was earning an amount I’d never seen before. It wasn’t a lot, but for someone who got 60 euros from their parents, earning 800 felt great.

Then I started college, where I had substantial help of 300 euros, but I wasn’t working, so I went back to not valuing money. And even though I was betting and started betting regularly again, I didn’t feel addicted at that point—it was more of a way to pass the time. I never ended up with zero. Two years later, when I started my third year in law school, I was beginning to deal with professional and personal anxiety issues. I was living with my girlfriend and would even drag her to the casino, convincing myself it was just for fun, not addiction. Now, looking back, I know it was always addiction. I think I always knew. Over the next two years, I blew through about 6,000 euros or more just on the casino; with sports betting, maybe a bit less, but for a young person in a country where the minimum wage is 800 euros, that’s a lot of money. My father has always helped me as much as he can, and it’s heartbreaking to see him wanting to help but not knowing how. My mother knows I place bets, that I’ve been to the casino, and she suspects I’ve lost money, but she has no idea of the extent of the situation.

Now, I’ve found a temporary job while I wait for the job I truly want. I have a new girlfriend, an amazing personal situation, both in terms of family security and my girlfriend. But because I’m frustrated with my job and life itself, I’ve gone back to betting—at first with smaller bets, but it’s been growing and growing. I can’t save any of my salary; it all goes away, and I feel ashamed, so much shame about myself. I want to change this.

The tipping point was yesterday, as has been happening over the last three weeks. I go to work, and instead of working, I bet and watch games. I had 45 euros that I turned into 300 (just for context), and I lost it over a corner kick in the Geneva vs Como game—by one corner kick on incredibly low odds. I thought, "I’ll go to blackjack to make back the money," and I lost 100.

I deposit another 200, then another 300, and then another 150. Suddenly, I’m sitting in the parking lot at work, thinking about what a mess I am, leaving work early without giving any explanation to anyone, simply because this addiction took in an hour what I work a whole month to earn. I’m so tired of this, and I want help. I don’t know if it’s asking too much or not, but I need someone to talk to, I need to vent, I need to feel that I’m not alone and that I’m not worthless. I especially need to overcome this terrible addiction so I don’t ruin my life.