New to this

Lots of good advice on here Carlos, read a bit, post a bit, mainly don't think you have come to 'Gamcare' and beaten the problem. I came, i went, i came, i went ...... and so on. To beat this problem you have to be tough on yourself, give something up you really enjoy, because it is financially crippling you. So there you go 'you have to want to quit yourself'' thats the best bit of advice i can give you. Read a lot on here, you will find you are very similar to a lot of us.

Hi Carlos1985,

Welcome to the Forum, and what a thoughtful decision to make after 10years of gambling!

It seems you’re now ready to do what it takes to stop your gambling addiction, and since you made and arrived at that decision at your own time. Well done.

You said you want to be back to normal again; of course you’ll feel normal with time. I’d like to make you aware that you formed this gambling habit over a period of 10years, and you can’t get rid of it overnight. I do realise that you’re struggling to keep it out of your thoughts even though you’re not gambling atm.

What I’m advising you to do is for you to try and be patient with yourself, and take it step by step, and perhaps one day at a time. You’ll hopefully get there before you know it.

Also, try and distract yourself from the thoughts of gambling when you get home from work (and all the time too) by involving in other activities that are not related to gambling. Don’t allow yourself to get bored as boredom is a contributory factor for falling back to gambling. Thus it’ll be beneficial to you if you go for hobbies that you can enjoy.

You can even choose to spend your some of your spare time on our website, and read from our Chatroom/ Forum. There, you’ll find a lot of postings from people who have been, or who are still in a similar situation like you, and the strategies they used/ are using to overcome their addiction. You can then apply these strategies that you can identify with to yourself.

The knowledge would encourage and strengthen you, and it will also remind you that you’re not alone in this, that help and support is here at Gamcare.

Just in case you feel you’re still struggling and thus need further help, you can also contact us via our free phone Helpline on 0800 8020 133, and thus discuss your gambling problem with one of our specially trained advisers for help and support.

Thanks once again for your post, and please keep posting as often as you can.

Kind regards,

Beatrice