New to the forum

Hi Abi

i too am a new member joined today.. I’m not in a position to offer advice myself as my life is a complete mess due to gambling at the moment but I do wish you all the luck in the world for beating this awful addiction.. hopefully people on here can provide help and support to get our lives back on track..

Firstly, welcome to the forum Abi26 and 4Angels.

You’ve come to the right place to start the process of sorting yourselves out for a cleaner, healthier and more fulfilling life.

The losses you have suffered are gone and are never coming back. You cannot control the past. BUT you can control the future. Without gambling there will be better days ahead.

It’s important to tackle this addiction in small steps. Day by day. Even hour by hour if you must. Don’t try to run before you can walk.

Put the necessary online blocks in place, Gamban, K9 etc and tighten those opportunities to gamble. Find a new hobby that you can focus on. It can be done.

There’s lots of support available on here from so many amazing users. Start a diary and keep on posting your thoughts.

Best of luck for the journey ahead. The Gamcare family will look out for you.

I too have finally sought the help I need, rather than try and tackle it on my own. This is day 1. I am constantly worried about money and how I am going to get out of this mess.

I gambled in to the early hours this morning, so I have set my day as 0.

Thank you for your comments Angel, Dan and Snow.

Angel, I hope too that we can beat this - we will beat it! Welcome to the forum and the best of luck to you. This is such a positive step in the right direction for us.

Thank you Dan for your kind and motivational welcome. I have made a list of all the new hobbies I can have time for when I'm not spending it gambling! I feel good about it. How do I start a diary through this site? Or do I just update on this forum?

Snow, I'm also VERY worried about money and I think it will take me a few years to clear my debts. It is so tempting to gamble to try and recify it so I have to keep reminding myself that I have been there, done that and it didn't work. It only made matters worse. So sorry to hear you didn't manage your first day, but don't give up hope! Have you blocked your accounts? I have done this - and I'm determined not to set up new ones as I have done in the past.

We can do this!

Thank you, Abi.

I decided that I had to take action when I woke this morning, but given that I was gambling til 2am I do not think I can count this as day 1. Tomorrow am will be Day 1. I am worried that I too will get the temptation to chase by losses, but i am determined not to be broken by this. I have started to write down my debts, to try and take control of it.

I have blocked the accounts too. I have set up new ones in the past too. Have you used blocking apps ? I did put K9 on my phone sometime ago, but this didnt work as I could still access the sites.

Yes, i think we can do this !

I am going to think about what I can do as alternatives too, but today I have done very little apart from feel miserable, but I am glad I have actually taken some step forward, instead of just pretending it's all ok, because it isn't.

Hi Abi

Hope you are doing ok. I'm on day 8 today. After about a year off I had a big relapse but trying to get back on track.

Hopefully you'll follow the advice re blocking and if you want to and can have someone oversee your finances that's great. I have thus far avoided handing over control of my money but I'm sure it would help.

I'm now on a big push to repay at least half of my debt. So having 6 really tight months with high payments. Changed all direct debits to come off on pay day so I can't gamble that money. Also spending it all helps! So doing a big shop, buying anything needed for the month ahead literally on pay day then taking out cash and budgeting for each week.

This is my plan anyway. And it actually feels good in a way to be in control. Losing control and feeling so lost is horrible and we have all been there. So I'm trying to be decisive and strong. We don't need this to control us, we can control ourselves and our own lives.

Good luck x

Thank you for your comment lizzie. Congratulations on 8 days!! Hopefully it's 10 now...

Good luck on paying off your debts. I'm going to aim to have half of it paid off by January. It does feel good to feel a little more in control and to have an achievable plan in place. I am doing well so far. Yay!

I love your quote at the end of your post - I'm going to write that in my journal 🙂 Thank you so much Lizzie x

Good evening I have read all of this string and am pleased everyone is motivated to stop . There are in my mind two kind of blocks . There is the physical blocks and the mental blocks . I am finding for me that the mental blocks are much stronger than physical blocks . Allow me to explain . When you are new into wanting to stop , you can do what many people here suggest and I also recommend it . Self exclusion , limiting money you carry, K9 or other blocking software , etc etc . This will work at first BUT life will throw you off guard . There will be times when you have the chance to gamble . You may see an advert on the tv (and probably 40% of adverts are gambling related ) , be driving somewhere and you see a casino or a bookies that you haven’t blocked yourself from . There will be an occasion that could catch you off guard and your addiction will take over . That is the physical block that is by no means fool proof . The mental block is something much stronger . It will equip you for any situation . I can’t tell you how to obtain it . It has happened for me pretty early on and some kind of switch in me happened . I can only describe it as a loathing of anything gambling related . I have suffered in my life so much because of it and my mindset has finally won the battle . This means that not only do I not think about wanting to do it , I repel it . Any gambling emails that come to me , deleted before I even open them . A gambling advert I end up answering back at the tv about how they rip people off . It’s a complex subject and it works for different people in different ways . Last thing I would say is that you can be a gambler who is just not gambling with the physical blocks . With the mental block you become a non gambler