Hi everyone,
I'm just new to this site in hopes to give up gambling for good. Im 27 and I've been paying off loans to fund gambling since I was 18. Many times I've tried to stop and have been successful (or so I thought) it turns out I only stopped gambling as I couldn't get my hands on any more money.
It makes me numb to think of the money I've wasted over the years, although I try not to dwell on it as it happened in the past and there's nothing I can do. Very few people know I have a gambling problem, and nobody knows the extent in which my life is in financial ruins.
I've self excluded myself from every betting site I can think of online. Even going as far as to sign up, purely to self exclude myself. I phoned the bank and asked them to stop lending me money, but they want me to go in for an interview, I don't think I could face anyone and talk finances. Any other tips to stop would be more than welcome.
Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling, I'm still empty inside from my last ever bet (which was unsuccessful) which was on 22/10/2016. No doubt you'll hear more from me in the upcoming weeks/months,
Peter
Hi Peter,
You are in the right place now. Your attitude towards the money that has gone is a positive at such an early stage. Many cannot let it go.
And the fact you have self excluded already shows you are taking this seriously. To be honest, like me 6 months ago, you sound beat and ready to quit for good!
You don't have to tackle everything right away, if you are not ready to speak to the bank don't. For now just focus on not gambling by putting barriers in place and let your head clear a bit more, day by day.
All the best.
Tommy.
Thanks tommy.
I've been in this exact position many times, and know that beating myself up about it isn't going to help anything, or possibly make it worse.
I'm definitely ready to quit for good. Hopefully with professional help, I can achieve that and start living my life. Ive made too many attempts to quit on my own and failed, to trust myself to go it alone again.
Thanks again for your comment Tommy, no doubt you'll see me floating about this forum again.
Peter.
Like you Peter I tried and failed so many times to give up. I always struggled to get past a month but in my mind I couldn't face the rest of my life without gambling.
What has really been the difference for me over the past 6 months has been gamcare counselling. Made me look deeper at issues in my life that had an impact on me escaping with gambling. I have started to tackle some of these issues and feel all the better for it.
The counselling is free and can even be done online with video conferences. That's how I done it - series of sessions over the course of first few months was invaluable to me. Can't recommend it enough.
But it is your recovery mate. You know what's not worked in the past. The question to ask yourself is - what are you going to differently this time?
Cheers.
Hi Peter,
A warm welcome to you to the forum, and thanks so much for your post.
It seems like you’ve now taken a step in the right direction to do something about your gambling problem, and thus seeking professional help to stop completely. You also sound like the 9 years of gambling is way too much for you, and you’re ready to do whatever it takes to stop gambling, and I think it would be worth it in the end
It also seems like you’ve been struggling to stop by yourself for some time now, but unfortunately, it hasn’t worked for you. Just to let you know that most people need professional help to overcome their gambling problem, and therefore, you’re not alone in wanting this help and support. It might be of great interest to you to know that Gamcare is ready to help you every step of the way in your recovery, if you follow the advice that we offer you.
We’ll advise you on strategies to put in place to enable you to control and eventually stop gambling. We can also refer you to 12 sessions of free counselling, and nearest to where you live, if that would help you to stop.
In case for some good reason, you’re not able to accept the face to face counselling sessions, there’s also an alternative help in the form of online counselling, and that is also 1 to 1 sessions.
I suggest that you contact our free phone Helpline on: 0808 8020 133, and speak to one of our advisers for further help and support.
Like you said, we look forward to reading more of your posts from the forum.
Please keep up the good work.
Best wishes,
Beatrice
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