The urge to gamble

Hi,

Nice post Cee. There have been periods of time where I've broken the 1 month barrier of not gambling. In my own personal opinion once I get past a month it feels so much easier to keep the momentum going. Getting through the first week isn't pleasant and it often means accepting defeat and walking away from losses. I had a bad passage of play last week and still feel raw. Let's aim for a month!

I am 45 days stopped first three weeks were tough the urges were there most days I'm not getting the urges as bad now it's difficult when I see ads on TV all the time and it makes me think. My finances are in better order but it will be a while before I will see the benefit of stopping and hopefully that will encourage me even more 

If I go through a patch without playing slots I seem ok but then once get that win then mostly lose it I get a really bad urge to get that rush again and to actually think I could win back some of my money and just to hit the bonus feature sad reality of it is I’m just getting excited from it and the after is not nice, I might as well flush all my money down the toilet or put my whole pay slip into the machine I should of saved money this month but no it’s gone too a machine that just takes everything from you I’m not stupid enough to put my last penny into the machine like this month I’m left with like 150 pound for the rest of the month all bills paid which is probably my worst month as only one week into it. I don’t feel completely terrible as I know my faults and am strong enough to beat it as you need to think of the after and not the before it’s just when I get paid I think I have lots of money to waste when I am left with not much after gambling just quite P****d of with my self as have not much money for me to enjoy my month and save some which I planned too, how do fight the urge when my brain feels like it needs it like a fix… my god I hate my self. 

Welcome to the forum, @ashoxo.

Thank you for being so honest and sharing your experience on the forum.

We can hear that your gambling and the loss of money and other impacts it is having is causing you harm and distress. 

But, we can also hear your determination to recover. As you said yourself, you are strong, and just by sharing your story, you have taken a step in a positive direction.

I'm sure you will receive lots of help and advice from others on the forum, but if you would like to chat with an adviser in more detail about your gambling and managing urges, we are available 24/7 on both the helpline, 0808 8020 133, and through our netline chat service.