Well here I am after a really bad relapse today after I've been really good with my money for the past 4 months and giving gambling a wide berth. Got Christmas out the way early doors had no issues which I'm thankful for as it's the first in years I've not been stressing about getting things in time for Christmas.
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It All started about a month ago was in the bookies with a friend and stuck a small amount in and won a fair few quid as you can imagine I was gripped again don't get me wrong went on a streak of winning the past few weeks obviously winning totally clouding my judgement as I was back in again the next day etc. But by God today I've had a massive wake up call my biggest ever loss in a session. Trip after trip to the bank to withdraw money I'd worked hard for and saved to disappear within an hour or 2 it's not how I imagined my new year starting.Â
All the money I'd won vanished and more of my own it's horrible to see it happening in front of you but unfortunately I let myself down and got tilted and couldn't drag myself away from the machine.
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I really am desperate to stop. I've managed to get myself a nice house and lovely fiancee and two beautiful kids and a steady job for the first time in my life. I've come from nothing sp might not sound lile a lot but for me its a massive achievement. But I can already tell I'm slipping and pushing myself to the point of losing it if I continue this destructive behaviour. It's pretty clear I can't be trusted with money when any cust of wind blows me into a bookmakers.
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I've decided to explain my circumstances to my fiancee and hope she understands the situation I'm in. As this is only one of a long line of massive losses this year which I've managed to keep hidden. I don't want to go back down the road of losing all my wages but the time I've got them so feel the time is right to speak up. I'm hoping this can seriously help me and also giving control of my finances to my other half should hopefully save myself from an even harder loss down the line. Thanks for reading and everyone keep your heads up and take it day by day which is something I'll be doing moving forward. Cheers.
we are all aware the First bet sets the Addiction cycle off again.The only way is to get back into recovery and take this addiction more seriously everyone knows gambling is fatal.Hope you learn your lesson again and again until you Learn Gambling is a serious addiction no half measures. It Literally means no gambling.No gambling means NO gambling. I wish you well
I'm in the U.S. and am thankful I was able to login to this site. I couldn't find any resources like the booklet from this organization (U.S. spelling 😉) for the U.S., so I thought I'd try to sign up and it worked.
I also started the year with a bang.Â
I get a monthly check from Veterans Affairs. It's about $2000 US (no idea of the conversion). The check hit sometime around December 28 and I'm down to $360 already. ALL of it went to gambling.
This happens every month and has been this way for a few years. Some months I gamble more than my check and my account goes negative. We have other accounts that can cover it but it's still a problem.
I'm ashamed of myself. I make really good money, as does my husband, and we live barely better than paycheck to paycheck. I've also noticed my husband is starting to gamble more too. Every month he says that we have to stop and yet, here we go, every single month. I'm afraid he's doing it more because of me.
The casino is close to where I work and live, which makes it hard. I wish we could live somewhere far away from a casino but it seems like they're everywhere.
In the US, we can basically ban ourselves from casinos by putting our name on a list. I'm not sure how it is managed but if you do that and go to a casino, you can be arrested for trespassing. I've never been arrested and I'm afraid if I put myself on that list, I'll end up going and getting arrested and that it would be a spiral from there.Â
I don't know what to do anymore, but I'm thankful I found this website. I hope you all don't mind if I join in. If you do mind, I'll step out. Best wishes to all of you.
Very similar, I had been attending GA religiously for the past 3 months and had collected my 90 day key ring. A few upsetting incidents at home and I was given free reign to gamble, during the month of December and early January (only 4 days in) I've lost more money then I will earn in 3-4 months. I am disgusted with myself. I have now decided to take strong action and will be relinquishing control of my money to my parents and I am currently filling out forms to ban myself from numerous establishments.
I am here to talk to as we are in a similar situation, these next few weeks will make or break our 2025 and we need to remain strong and put as many roadblocks in our way to make it incredibly hard to relapse again.
Just for today my friend we shall not gamble.
@ypqtfao731 I agree, and it is that win which draws us back in, thinking we can win more and more and when we don’t we chase it.
At this stage I am around 5 weeks gamble free, I have support in place and to be honest I am feeling very positive. It all started here with gamcare, referred to beacon counselling and then to primary care.
the therapist is a recovered gambling addict, and the support is so good, i found the groups so helpful, and the fact that the therapist has been in a similar position to us helps.Â
I am feeling very positive guys, I found the therapy is helping a lot, give it a try it may also help you. In turn helping myself improved not only myself but also my family life, the main goal, thinking of all others around me.Â
I hope I can be posting a similar message in 12 months time. When I am over 365 days gamble free.Â
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