Good morning all!
I joined this site yesterday and was both heartened and saddened to read so many posts; some even moved me to tears. It has become apparant that the only way of beating this terrible addiction is firstly to admit you have a problem (easier said than done in my experience). When I joined the site I took the self assessment tool quesetionairre and the results showed that I may have a problem with gambling if I was not careful.Having read through many posts on this forum, I revisited the self assessment tool this morning and realised that i was not completely honest in some of the answers I gave. Had i been, the answer would have been YES I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH GAMBLING. My addiction is with online casino sites. I have been playing for the past 10-12 years and estimate that i have lost around £500,000 in that time; a staggering ammount! I am fortunate that I have my own business and gambling has never put me in debt, however the money I have lost could certainly have been put to better use. As I have a business partner, I have never used the business money to gamble with, however he is due to retire next year and I will then be in sole control of business finances. Whilst I do not think I would ever put the business in jeopardy, I cannot completely trust myself, and need to stop gambling now. I apprecite I may be in a much better financial place than some who post on this site, but we all have a problem, or to be more accurate are addicts and have the same aim, to quit gambling. I really think this site and the encouragement between members will help me kick the habit. After a dinner party last night and a few too many glasses of wine, (which is usually very bad news for me wanting to gamble), I did not search the web for a site I had not self excluded from and went to bed not having gambled. Just one day I know, but it is a start. Best wishes to all and I hope we can all kick the habit together.
Hi Babapapa,
Welcome to the forum and well done for passing the first hurdle in admitting that you have a problem and have completed your first day gamble free, now you need to build on that by following all of the steps needed to continue in recovery such as self exclusion (there may be more sites around you haven't self excluded from without realising), blocking gambling websites on your phone and computer and restricting the availability of money to gamble with and the time to do it, as you have probably discovered these things are discussed at length on this forum. We are all hear to "listen" and help where we can and hopefully you will feel able to do the same for others.
All the best and keep us updated with how you are doing.
Hi babapapa and welcome!
And a hearty welcome at that. Because you've recognised your problem and want to stop.
And you can! The support you get on here will be amazing, inspiring and you'll feel like this is a team effort, which it is.
Whenever you feel weak, spend the time on here. You can encourage others, which actually helps yourself too.
That's because gamblers know gamblers; simple as that.
I've developed some incredible bonds on here with people who want to stop. And continue to stop!
Look, it's always day-to-day this addiction, certainly for me.
But you've made a cracking start. And you can reward yourself by giving yourself a better Christmas.
With more cash in your pocket, you will feel so much more in peace!
Good luck as you start ths monumental journey!
Thanks for your kind comments ucantwinever and Mixer, as you both say one day at a time.I have had today off work and rather than gambling on online casinos I have spent a lot of the day doing jobs round the house that have been neglected, and have spent a couple of hours looking at historic posts on the site, which have been really helpful.I have downloaded betfilter in the past but always found another computer to bet on. Last year I even went out and bought a new computer just so i could open new casino accounts. It is really sad the lengths we go to to gamble. It is so dificult to rationalise why we do it. A couple of days ago when I was playing i would deposit £100 and play a particular slot, when the balance was getting down to £30 I was already thinking of my next £100 deposit and what slot I would play with that. I obviously subconsciously knew I was not going to win but still was prepared to deposit again. Why? If I could answer that quitting would be easy.
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