Trying to beat the disease that is gambling

Hi.im fairly new to this.i havent gambled since 6th april so nearly a week now.its been tough but my biggest test is yet to come tomorrow as my biggest downfall was horses especially on a saturday

Hello mate

Have you thought about going into your bookies of choice and self-excluding? If you feel that's playing with fire I've also heard of a telephone number you can ring to exclude from all bookies in the area. It may help you in the long run?

It all really boils down to how much you want this mate. You don't say much in your first post from what I can see... Have you been losing heavily of late? Are you sick of gambling? Or is gambling making you sick?

You know - I hate to say it but some people enter this forum and really they probably just want some time off from gambling, whether they realise it or not... If you're completely done with it you'll know. 

Urges are natural whether you're done with it or not as the body and mind crave a bet for a while! But don't worry - fill your time with more useful things and these urges lose momentum and become more just gambling thoughts.

The ball is in your court my friend. Self-exclusion can only help you, it can't hinder you're abstainence in any way can it?

Good luck.

Hi signalman.thanks for your support.without banging on to long about it my story is im 34 and been gambling since 16.started off with the FOBT in the bookies.i would go every friday from work and most weeks lose everything i had.i would always save my mums board though! This never stopped me going again the following week and this went on for a few years.eventually i had enough of feeding the machines 20 pound notes.i then turned to sports betting.mainly horses and football.my dad always bet on horses so its all ive known.i grew up with it and soon got hooked on the buzz of winning quick cash in a few minutes it takes for a race to run.fast forward to now and im completely out of control on horses.betting large amounts on a race and getting hooked on the buzz of winning.its not fun anymore though.im sick of being skint when i work hard for my money and never have anything to show for it.my last bet was last saturday on the grand national.this week has felt like the longest in my life.i came clean to my mum and my girlfriend coz i cant do it anymore.i cant eat or sleep properly.im stressed all the time and getting very depressed.this addiction makes u feel so alone.i was betting online mostly.ive signed up with gamstop and gamcare.ive shut down the accounts i had.ive got gamban activated on my phone so its nearly impossible for me to gamble online.im waiting for an appointment for a 121 meeting through gamcare.im considering going ga meeting to see if that helps.ive got myself into about 10k of debt.ive been told to get in touch with stepchange as they can really help.ive been doctors and got sleeping tablets.going bk monday and maybe get anti depressants.this is what this disease has done to me and ive had enough.im determined to fight back and turn my life around.im not stupid enough to think it will be easy but coming on here is really helping and i go on chatroom when i can which is also good.ive only done a week but its a start.big test today coz saturday i always used to bet on horses.thanks for listening and sorry to bang on

Alright cantona,

How has your Saturday been? Have you been busy? 

Saturdays were my main day of betting too, football & horses. I’ve found not watching horse racing a big help, if I was watching it I think I would be thinking this horse would win etc.. 

Tying up your time & money are very important. 

Todays been tough ram i must admit.i tried keeping busy as much as possible and it helped.small steps along a very long road.just hope it gets easier.horses were my biggest downfall.i grew up with them and its all ive known on a saturday.i actually enjoyed watching football today without worrying about the result coz of a bet 

So ive made it to 14 days gf.quite an achievement for me.i feel much better for it and starting to wonder why i ever gambled in the first place.still waiting patiently for my 1st 121 meeting.this is my 2nd saturday now and im determined not to give in.it aint easy but nothing in life worth doing is.taking medication which is slowly making me feel better and just started reading a new book i got.thanks for reading and speak soon

Hi Cantona7

Good to see that you are now over two weeks g/f, and that you continue to get support from the chatroom and forums.  I see you are committed to recovery and glad to read that medication is helping you to feel better.  I read that you've taken lots of action to block websites such as self-exclusion and blocking software and I hope that your new book is interesting.  It can often help to either return to activities and interests you had before gambling, or to create new ones.  

Warm regards, 

Leigh

Forum Admin 

Hi Cantona,

My name is AL and im 64 and a compulsive gambler. At 13 i played cards regularly for money in a quiet corner in my local youth club. At 15 ( that was the school leaving age then ) i was a regular in my local bookmakers.

At 26 i was manager of a furniture store and 1 day i took the days takings and stuck it all on a certainty ( which fell at the 2nd last hurdle ) and was prosecuted. Looking back i think the only people that didnt know i had a problem was ME. I lived, slept and breathed horse racing and football betting and in 2006 i discovered online gambling, not just backing but laying on the exchanges.

I weaved a continuous web of lies and deceit always in the belief that my day would come and i would win it all back. I was like a sparring partner in a boxing ring, one of those guys that was never going to win a world title just someone who would just be there to be punched.

Towards the end i was sitting up all night gambling on american or australian horse racing or football trying to recoup the losses incurred hours before. I would take my wife to work next morning and gamble on some football match in Vietnam or Australia just desperately trying to win back my losses.

257 days ago i decided id been punched once to often(think they call it rock bottom ) and came here for help. I accepted everything they suggested self exclusion, shop ban,counselling and support from folk whove been to the the same dark places as me.

Saturdays were torture at first no access to money Mrs having total control over finances. No more credit cards and not welcome anymore in bookmaker shops. No horse or football bets but even worse no annual pilgrimage to Mecca (Thats what Cheltenham in March was to me ),and not a bet on the national in April.

Now ill get to the point every Saturday was torture,early game on Sky no wagers, 1st race no wager. I was climbing the walls at first. I never missed a session on the 1 till 2 Saturday chatline to help me get through Saturdays.I havent bought a newspaper since i came here last August,and my Mrs put blocking software on my laptop. This is a brutal addiction that requires brutal measures.

All i can say Cantona is it gets better 1 day at a time but requires a strength and determination beyond an addicts wildest imagination, rather like a heroine addict doing cold turkey. Accept rule 1 you aint NEVER gonna win back what youve lost and rule 2 Anything in this life worth having ( like beating addiction ) doesnt come easy,we have to fight for it.

Hope you find the strength and wisdom to stop my friend

AL

Hi

The wording you use is to beat the addiction, well for me it was not a fight but more of a surrender.

The only person I would be fighting is myself.

The gambling establishments never made me steal from people, I did that due to my own unhealthy choices.

The gambling establishments never made me lie to people, I did that due to my own unhealthy choices.

My fears of being honest started from a very early age.

Once I abstained from Gambling a day at a time.

I then abstained from smoking a day at a time.

I then abstained from getting drunk a day at a time.

In time being able to articulate my feelings and emotions I did not have to swear any more.

Due to me attending as many meetings as possible and putting more time and energy in to my recovery and the twenty questions.

For me when I read my life was unmanageable I thought it was due to Gambling and lack of money.

Then I understood that my life was unmanageable long before my addictions and obsessions.

My physical age and my emotional age did not match.

In recovery that gap has been reduced.

The money was just the fuel for my addiction, money was never going to heal the hurt inner child in me.

Money was never going to buy me peace of mind or serenity.

The serenity prayer helped me understand that my unhealthy reactions to people life and situations were my choice.

How much do I value myself today.

Do I really think that luck alone would make me a successful person in my life and relationships with other people.

All the best to every one.

Dave L

AKA Dave of Beckenham