Hello Everyone....Just want to tell my brief story. Ironically I got into playing online roulette after reading some blogs on You tube regarding gambling addiction. This was back in May of this year (2014) and I started out by playing 10.00 every now and again. Now 4 months later I have lost 33,000.00 to online roulette. I actually won 17,000.00 back today...and then lost it again. I'm 'fortunate' I guess that I have not gone into debt. I still have about 47000.00 left out of my savings of 80000.00 and I am lucky enough to have no mortgage. But any plans of moving house will now have to be put on hold about two or three years as I save the money back....and I will SAVE the money back....I run a small business and considered myself a sensible individual, but I just lost my mind! My health is suffering, I feel my heart racing and have lost my appetite. Also it is so difficult to remain 'normal' to the outside world when inside you are cursing yourself for being such a fool! I feel I have let everyone down, even though they no nothing of my losses.As I said, I intend to save save save, I'm going to get a blank bit of paper and write down every week what I Manage to put away and watch it build up knowing that each amount, no matter how small, is mine, and not going to some faceless online casino......I'm so glad I've found this site, as I feel it's given me strength, knowing that it's not just me who has fallen foul of the gaming industry.....I sincerely wish everyone on these forums all the best and hope and pray you find the power to beat your addictions and improve your lives for the better....as I am going to try and do!
Hi 9hoursaway,
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for posting here.
I’m pleased to learn that you find the forum empowering, good support, and also a safe place to speak about your anger, anxieties, and frustrations regarding your gambling problems.
It’s good that you realised in a good time that gambling is not a thing for you, and I admire your determination to stop gambling and build up your savings for a better future and gamble free life.
I do agree with you that you are fortunate to have some of your savings left, and that you’re going to do everything to hold on to it, and even save more. Others didn’t, and unfortunately, hit rock bottom before they thought about doing something about it.
However, you didn’t mention any strategy that you are going to put in place in order to achieve your plans. I’d like to make you aware that gambling addiction is difficult to try and overcome it by yourself, and it can easily get out of control. Thus it’s important to have some strategies and boundaries in place to help you to stay safe, and also to prevent a relapse.
Maybe you’ll like to replace your gambling time with some other activities/ hobbies to distract yourself from gambling, and also to avoid being bored. Boredom is one of the factors that causes relapse, and you’ll be better off staying well away from it.
Perhaps it will be advisable to install one of the following Internet blocking software on your computer and mobile phone, so as to stop you from accessing gambling sites. They are:- Gamblock, Net Nanny, and Betfilter. I’m advising you to read about all of them, and install the one that you think will give you the maximum benefit.
In case you feel you need further help and support with your gambling problem, don’t hesitate to contact us again. You can also reach us via our free phone helpline on: 0808 8020 133, and speak to one of our advisers.
Thank you again for your post, and please keep posting as frequently as possible.
Best wishes,
Beatrice
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