Hi guys, I’m new to this so bear with me. Just thought I would let u all know my situation and hopefully get some advice! Yesterday my hidden life came crashing down on top of me when my fiancГ© found a letter that came through the door about a loan I had recently taken out and that was it, I had to tell her my secret I had been hiding for so long. Over the past 3 or so months I have got myself in to an awful mess running up a 30k debt with 8 different loan companies. I’ve been secretly gambling mostly on online roulette while at work. How I have got in to the mess I’m in I’ll never know! It started off with one day depositing £100 and having a couple of spins, losing that, then depositing again to chase what I had lost and so on and so on. And it’s left me in a 30k deep hole! I’m very lucky to have a very understanding fiancГ© that i has thought would leave me when she found out about this but she hasn’t. We have a little girl together who is nearly 2 and the shame and guilt I’ve felt during the whole time I’ve been doing this has been nearly too much to deal with. I’ve talked to step change to try and get some help with all the loans so I’m hopefully entering into a trust deed to sort all that out. Any similar story’s out there or any advice? Cheers
Hello Plugg,
Well done for getting in touch with StepChange.
You mentioned that you were gambling online, so you might like to register with the national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling, GamStop 0800 138 6518 https://www.gamstop.co.uk/contact-us
It sounds like you might be based in Scotland, if so you could look at the free therapy sessions offered by RCA Trust in many places around Scotland. You can call us to find out more, on our freephone 0808 8020 133.
If you prefer peer support and using the 12 Steps, you could look at Gamblers Anonymous meetings in Scotland. https://gascotland.org/gamblers_anonymous_meetings/
Take care,
Forum admin.
Plugg,
I can’t offer you any advice sadly but I am pretty much in the same boat, debt wise and scenario wise, spending countless hours playing roulette and other online slots both at home and Work, racking up thousands of pounds that could/should have been spent on the wife and kids. So far they don’t know, however, it’s at the point where I’ve got myself in a bit of order finance wise, I have a half baked plan, I’m 21 days gamble free which for me is a first for well over 4 years. The next big step for me is to tell the Mrs and hope she doesn’t up and leave with the kids, that’s the biggest fear. Good luck with your journey, hopefully I’ll be on and around here far more often so I might see how your doing with it all. Cheers
Hi Plugg,
Best advice is to get to your nearest GA meeting mate. As compulsive gamblers we get lost in our gambling bubble and we need support to overcome it and deal with our state of mind that caused it, if we do not it will happen all over again. At GA you will have the support of fellow compulsive gamblers which is ideal as they will understand what your going through.
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.
