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Hi Becky,
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your gambling issues? People may be able to offer you better guidance if so.

Damo

hi, I have allways gambled on my phone or ipad, online slots and bingo, i would be able to start and stop very easily

i would be able to go 2-3 months without touching the sites. but this year has been the worse for me, since March i have gambled

almost everyday, and spent over £12000, which has put us in more debt, bills werent getting paid, the kids were going without, i couldnt even give my husband his 50th birthday party i planned in june, i finally told me husband two weeks ago, i had to, the guilt was getting to much for me. my husband has been amazing, he cried when i told him that i was going to seek professional help, ive also been struggling with alcohol, of which i am currently about to start a care package with a local charity,

Hi again Becky,

There are a few practical things that you can put in place to help yourself in the early days.

Sounds like you do your gambling online so get yourself registered with Gamstop https://www.gamstop.co.uk/ . This will mean you are excluded from most of the UK online sites out there. They will all need to be registered by the end of the year.

It is great that you’ve been honest with your husband. Honesty is definitely the best way forward and it takes a lot of courage to take that step. Can you give him total control of finances? This will limit your access to money and make it more difficult for you to gamble.

Call Gamcare and arrange yourself some free counselling session or even better get yourself to a GA meeting. Also if you have drink problems you could look at going to AA.

Finally I would recommend that your husband gets a bit of support for himself. He needs to educate himself on gambling addiction and get advice on the best ways to be able to support you. He would be able to get that by going to a gamanon meeting which is for family members who are affected by gambling.
Anyway there is loads more information out there. Read some diaries and I am sure there will be more people along to offer advice.
Damo

Hi Becky,

Look up your local GA meetings, as compulsive gamlers betting can consume us and take over our lives making them unmanagable as you have seen. At Gamblers Anonymous you meet fellow compulsive gamblers who will be able to advice and listen. They understand all the stresses, triggers and pit falls we encounter. Basically you will get support here and it will help change your mindset if you engage with the 12 step reovery program. If you put as much time and effort into recovery as you did into gambling you will go a long way to beating this addiction.

thank you