gHi, my name is Mark and I am a compulsive gambler. My life has been taken over by this horrible illness. My story is so long to share but to cut it short I have gambled all my life and this took over and destroyed me when I started working in a bank. The horrible illness took over and with access to unlimited funds you can only imagine where it ended up. I have since served a prison sentence for my actions. I am very lucky to have an amazing wife and family behind me who have stuck by me the whole way through. I was clear for almost two years before having a relapse. I have got this back under control now and am a few months clear. I am not one of these that hate gambling, in fact I miss it a lot. Before it was out of control I enjoyed it. I attend a local meeting religiously and am pleased my life is back on track. Gambling has taken me to some very dark places including a suicide attempt and a prison sentence and I now have a baby on the way and am one bet away from destroying everything. I know how careful I have to be but that is easier said that done for an addict like me. I have decided to use these forums to speak to new people and extend my support network . I look forward to hearing from you
Hi mark...wow I can only imagine the mess you could get yourself into with a gambling addiction working in a bank and the knowledge to try to abuse and manipulate that situation to fund or cover your tracks god knows it's a desperate sad sad situation and you sit back and try to contemplate who you've even become! I am lucky well not particularly as I have a ball'sd up credit rating so wasn't able to remortgage take out ccards or big bank loans to fund my addiction or try to cover my cluster **** of a mess. But I have no doubt if I could have I would be looking at tens of thousands of pounds of debt due to gambling instead of £3500 not that my situation is any better than anyone else's it so isn't. I lied, I deceived, I abused ppls generosity and help to feed my selfish needs and desperation. I can't believe the depths that I allowed myself to sink to. It blows me away that my once sensible self became this low life s**m that I didn't recognise anymore. I am glad that you have a supportive wife and family behind you god knows what we could become if we didn't. I feel for those who are to scared to come clean as there really is no worse feeling than going through day to day feeling the way a gambling addict does. Why would we put ourselves through it? There is no buzz only hurt, sorrow, regret, self loathing that in itself should be enough to never give another penny to these daylight robbing theiving ba****** but hey it's us who deposit the money or go in bookies right! Crazy crazy crazy!!
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
