Hello, I am a compulsive gambler and have been gambling for 20 years.
in 2017 it got really bad and I gambled all my wages and I could not pay my direct debits. At the time I opened up to my wife and started to go to GA meetings, I then stopped going as it was over an hour drive away. For 2 years I didn’t gamble and everything was great. At the beginning of this year I started again and  ended up taking out  a loan to pay debts. My wife found the letter and left the house with my two year old  for a couple of days. Luckily she came back. I am determined to sort this out properly this time, I know I have a problem and can not deal with it on my own. I have joined gamstop but found it quite a difficult confusing process. I have uploaded all my docs to there share point but I don’t know if they have been verified or accepted, it doesn’t seem to tell you.
There are no groups because of the covid so I will be joining the online chats once a week.
i look forward to speaking to you all
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Kev
Kevin,
Welcome to the forum.
Hopefully, you will find the forum a useful tool. There is many stories and diaries on here which you will benefit from reading and you will receive support and help on your diary.
You have stopped gambling before so you know you can make a success of your journey. You just need to find the correct mindset and have a willingness to work your recovery.Â
Everybody on here is fighting towards the same thing which is to eradicate gambling from their lives. The ones who have succeeded in doing so for prolonged periods will tell you that its the best thing they’ve done in order to enjoy a fuller more balanced lifestyle.
I wish you well.
RR
Hi KevinÂ
As an advocate for GA I'm all for you attending meetings once they reopen and there are some open meetings online as per the Ga website.
Just a thought for you though. I have a phrase which I use about making excuses which is "find a reason for doing something rather than an excuse not to". Â
You mentioned above that you stopped going to GA because it was over an hour away. Maybe twist it back around and say that for the sake of an hour there and an hour back and two hours  at the meeting you had 162 hours a week to live a normal life. Sounds a small price to pay?
All the best
Chris.
Hi Kevin,Â
I agree with Chris, when you start to tackle this issue you realise its easy to make excuses as to why we resist making changes. I get that a 2 hour round trip is not ideal but imagine if you were seriously injured and the paremedics said they would not bother taking you to the hospital to get the treatment you need because it was a 2 hour drive, what would you think. You need to tackle this properly, it is going to take a serious commitment of time and effort.Â
As you have seen even with long break of no gambling it did not sort the issues. Gambling is only the surface, you need to dig down and work on changing your mindset and behaviours to really tackle this issue. Thats why the 12 step program helps so many people. Seek out a GA meeting and make it part of your week.
Also contact Gamstop, explain you need help registering and get it done. Give your wife access to everything, emails, bank accounts, credit history, phone...the lot. Lies are the life blood of a compulsive gambler, you have to be an open book to avoid this. Good luck with it.
Like that! 🙂
A two hour round drive eto something that is going to change your life for the better is always worth it.Â
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