New start

Welcome to the forum and well done for showing courage to join and admit to yourself and others that you do indeed have a problem . When you say “for old times sake “ it is a statement of not wanting to let go . One of the first things you have to do is let go to enable you to progress . Let go of all the losses in your head or even the wins for that matter . What’s done is done. New start is now and don’t look back . I’m not sure what you gambled on or what your situation is financially but you can disclose that whenever or if you feel that you are ready . There is a lot of great support and information on this site and I would strongly advise to read quite a few new member posts . The advice is pretty generic and would apply to you and probably most of the UK gamblers that have been cultivated by the gambling boom . We are just casualties of it who have decided that enough is enough . To the gambling companies we are just collateral damage and they really do not care about our own personal suffering or state of mind . Stopping is multi faceted in terms of the different things you can do coupled with the immediate , short term and long term benefits . We all go through stages in our recovery . One thing that shocked me on this forum was someone describing gambling as “using” . It hit me hard to think I was no different to a heroin addict in that respect . The good news is that you can stop this now . There is a reason you posted here today and I believe that you have finally said to yourself , enough is enough I can’t keep on just treading water month after month . Something has to change . Well now it can . Things do improve significantly and in a very short space of time . BUT , now this is the reality check . It’s got to be an all or nothing. You have to be committed to stopping and have to put all of the advice on here into practice . Good luck and perhaps starting your own diary here is a good place to begin . I found it very useful and cathartic , a kind of self therapy at the very early stages .

Hi Lost sheep,

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your post.

I’m glad you’ve admitted to having gambling problem, and now taken a step in the right direction to do something about it. Gamcare is ready to help and support you every step of the way to overcome your gambling problem. We can advise you on strategies to put in place to enable you to control and eventually stop, if that is what you want.

It’s never easy trying to stop gambling by yourself; most people need professional help and support to overcome it, so well done for getting in touch with us for support.

It also seems like you’ve come to the realisation that “one more time” means you weren’t ready to stop, and since gambling is like a vicious cycle (the more you gamble, the more you lose, and the more you chase your losses), it’s to your benefit to effect changes that would enable you to stop gambling, and whilst getting support from us and fellow forum members.

Fellow forum member – Bryan, has also made suggestions that seems very useful, and I hope you’ll pay attention to his response to you too.

How about calling our free phone Helpline on: 0808 8020 133, and speak to an adviser for further help and support.

Our lines are open everyday from 8.00am to midnight.

My best wishes to you on your journey to recovery, and please keep posting!

Kind regards,

Beatrice.

thank you both for your comments ! I am defiantly ready to stop gamabling. I think maybe starting a diary as suggested by Bryan is a good idea and I will defiantly be looking through some of the posts on here . Thank once again thanks for your input x

Lost sheep wrote:

thank you both for your comments ! I am defiantly ready to stop gamabling. I think maybe starting a diary as suggested by Bryan is a good idea and I will defiantly be looking through some of the posts on here . Thank once again thanks for your input x

Log on here every morning and read the stories on here. It'll fortify your mind not to gamble when you read that all too familiar story of gut wrenching stupidity that people with this horrible addiction do, losing every penny they had for food etc. One day at a time...