Time for change

@absentee I don’t know but I do hope so. 
I agree, one day at a time mate.

Cheers

Hi Andy,

I’m on Day 375 and I have personally found that the feeling of overcoming the gambling problem is more about learning to live with the acceptance of having a problem.

It sounds a little like how Covid is for us nowadays…we can’t fully overcome it, we just have to learn to find ways to live with it and know it’s always there.

I still have small urges from time to time, and through receiving the counselling support I have developed techniques to identify the possible reasons for an urge. I’m happy to share an example; My girlfriend doesn’t give me much attention some days, and on that same day I find myself with a load of decisions to make in my own business, and on top of that my sleep might not have been the best either…and then I catch sight that there’s a football match being played and I get a small urge to imagine what would happen if I gambled on that match. But through my self-awareness skills I can identify that I am going through a lack of self-control, and I recognise my gambling addiction is partly because of the ‘control’ it feels like it can give me in life. So I then remember to go for a walk, talk to someone, write something on here - and I also know an urge will pass by like a cloud in the sky.

You can do this too ???

@azzabazza thanks for the reply.

I am trying to recognise my catalysts to gamble.

I have quite a hectic life. I have a disabled child, a business that’s struggled the last few years and debt. For me gambling takes me away from the stress of life for those few minutes where you can forget the world. I’m fully aware that problems still exist once you finish your spree but something in my mind tells me to do it anyway. Crazy isn’t it? 

You should be very proud of what you have achieved over the last year and hope one day I can emulate your success 

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Andy 

Hi Andy,

I am also addicted to gambling and have been for decades.

From what you say, you have all the self-incite you need.. but you still do it. I relate I have been much the same.

The programming of the machines is designed to keep you gambling. In short, let you win a bit and then take it all back.

You enjoy the thrill when you "win a bit" and your emotional brain wants to repeat that feeling and give you the escapism that you crave.

Like me, you cannot win because you cannot stop. Even when i have had a win on the machines, I just go somewhere else to see if I can repeat the win and keep repeating the win. I end up loosing and then i feel terrible and eyes lose focus cos i have been starring at the machines for so long.

The only solution is not to place that first bet.

All the best with your journey.

@s-687 Thanks for the reply. Just made it to a week GF. Mixed emotions if I am honest, been a very emotional week. I think its starting to sink in the damage I have caused. I will beat this though and I will come out the other side a different person. Being gamble free will be the biggest win I could possibly ever have.

Andy