Hello everyone, my name is Ben and I'm new here.
I've been gambling pretty much constantly since I turned 18 (I'm 24 currently).
Even before adulthood, my parents were in the arcades and/or bookies every single day and they'd bring me with them, I don't blame them for me getting hooked but I do think that they made me assosiate gambling with a positive, since any time they'd win they'd always buy my something nice, it was pretty inevitable that I'd be gambling once I was allowed to, until then I was just playing the £5 jackpot slots.
I first knew gambling was a big problem for me when I got my first job. I worked 8am-8pm daily in a warehouse, and I would spend my entire wage on the first day off after getting paid. I remember one day I randomly took out a £5000 loan with my bank and it was gone within two days, so I was literally working in this crappy job just to pay back this pointless gambling debt. It was without a doubt the lowest point in my life and I always feel incredibly depressed after a loss, especially when I reflect upon how much money I WOULD have saved up over the years if I didn't blow it all on gambling.
I have tried various measures to stop gambling, such as bet blocking apps, self-exclusion and letting my family hold my card. But, as I'm sure you all know, a problem gambler will always find ways around the obstacles in place.
For the first time I decided to speak to someone from GamCare about my problem yesterday, they helped me put real measures in place. I signed up to GamStop yesterday so that I can't remove the block by simply resetting my pc, I also contacted my bank and told them that I want all gambling transacations blocked. I decided it would be best for me to also sign up to this forum to meet people who have gone through similar situations. I think having other people that understand would really help. A lot of my friends don't understand my addiction, they don't view it as seriously as other addictions like alcoholism, drugs and smoking. But it's all psycholoical and I can't help it.
Apologies if this intro is a little dragged, just wanted to share my backstory. I hope to see many inspirational stories of recovery and fellow problem gamblers overcoming this terrible addiction, and I hope we can all get better together.
Cheers!
Well done!
I, like many others here, Â have a similar story to you. I had tried many times to stop gambling but this is the first time I have accepted help from Gamcare, podcasts, my wife etc. I can tell you being 10 days in that it is much easier and more rewarding with this help in place as it allows you to be completely honest.
You sound like you have your head screwed on right and are serious about stopping. From my experience over the last week, the hardest part so far was after the first few days. The initial buzz of stopping had worn off and without a payday for another 2 weeks I felt like I wasn’t seeing the benefit of stopping (stupid I know but thoughts like this are why we are problem gamblers) However, whenever thoughts of gambling cross my mind I would check in on these forums or talk to my wife and then the good feeling of being on the road to recovery come flooding back.Â
Good luck, don’t get complacent and keep checking in!Â
Ian
Hi bench.The views of your friends comes from ignorance of addiction so try not to dwell on that . Each addiction causes different problems they are all similar in that there is craving, compulsion, recklessness , damage to mental health. I'm only guilty of the one addiction gambling but I don't agree with your friends that it is less serious than the others there is the capacity to lose large sums of money quickly and inflict massive financial damage to yourself and your family over a short space of time, if that's not serious I don't know what is !! You are young you have correctly identified that you have a problem, you have correctly identified that it is affecting your life and you have come here and asked for help and that is good so well done. Stop now and you keep the damage to what you have lost so far. Gamstop has allowed me to stop gambling for 45days now.... and I gambled every day for last about 2years with big loses and debt(altogether gambled for 20 years for the most part fairly controlled). Gambling had a severe grip on me and it exploded on me when my husband found out. As well as gamstop I've used this forum a lot and I've had loads of support and advice, my husband has full financial control and I have no access to bank accounts ,cards, passwords etc and all this is a small price to pay if I stay away from gambling. I wasn't happy I was lying to deceiving those dearest to me, Im much happier more stable, have left behind the anxiety , panic attacks....recovery feels good !! Best wishes
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