Hi, Well not sure where to begin but here goes, Gambling has always played a part in my life, my dad gambled during my childhood and well we went from winning thousands to loosing everything and i always said to myself i would never turn out that way, however seems that the apple doesnt fall far from the tree.
Eventually i was gambling online and would play 10 quid now and again and during relationships would increase from 10 quid to 15 quid etc but casually, the most i would spend would be 20 quid in a month however my last relationship i settled down, didnt gamble and had a child, got a house and then she left me and took my son away so i started gambling again, was going online spending 50 to 100 quid a week, not paying rent and then lost the house and moved back home. Now im working full time and well i get paid a decent wage however yesterday was the final straw for me, i had several hundred pounds that i just threw into a machine and now ive hit rock bottom, i feel depressed and have an increasing anxiety, thing is its like a drug, i wanna go back and just spend the day putting money in and looking to hit the jackpot however i need to stop, i need to get my life sorted out and i need to cut it before it completely devours me but it is just so hard to do, i cant walk past a store without wanting to go in and i feel embarrased to self exclude myself.
I just dont know what to do, i have 80 quid to last me till next payday and i need to stop myself from gambling that money which i know i might end up doing without the help.
I don't won't to throw the old cliche at you ' you sound just like me at the beginning' but thats where you are at. Stop before all the other avenues of gambling come flying at you. You sound relatively young - if so its time for a change, nip this in the bud now, carry no cash, no debit cards leave them at home for a month/or two. Do not use the internet to fuel your addication. I had all this knowledge at my finger tips five years ago and I ignored it, I blew all my life savings a massive amount of money. Take the right path my friend before you end up another gambling industry casulty - like me.
Hi, I read this post and I'm exactly the same ( well up intill 5 days ago ) it's a seriously depressing time when you get the realisation that you have actually lost. I used to spend every penny on the day I got paid and it was making me physically sick but I still didn't stop the weeks would role by and I kept of gambling.
Have you told your family ???
If not sit them down and tell them, give your money to a family member to take control of bank details and so on, probs sounds stupid but if you have no means of gambling then you don't spend.
If you can't speak to your family then get yourself to a meeting.
I hope you manage to find the will power just to be able to say no.
Hi, just wanna say Thank you for the replies, it has helped me start to understand where im at and slowly work out a plan of action. The first thing ive done is put my cards and cash in a draw and the most amount of money im going to have in my wallet is 5 quid a week. I know its not a great leap and there's no chance in getting that money back but the more i think about what ive had the more i become depressed and sick about it.
The problem with talking to family is the two main people, one is an ex gambler and the other is still gambling so it wouldnt help much but the replies and hearing what other people out there has to say is helping as it gives me an understanding that im not alone or cursed by being the only person in the world with bad luck and that people who have experienced the same problems have over come it and its good to know they did as well wha helped them
Well back on here as i need to get help with this problem which i cant seem to shake. I thought i had got it under control but it just doesn't seem to be working. So i could use assistance as im going to start from this day, despite numerous attempts of saying that each day will be the day i stop and then down the line when pay day hits im spending hundreds of pounds and the guilt of it is whats making me depressed However i need to make this day the beginning of the end for my gamling habit. So if anyone can advise that would be great as i need to stop
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
