Uncomfortable with GamCare

Mmmm...interesting post. I'm not quite sure what you're getting at? I started to interact in December because I recognised I had turned from an occasional gambler into an addict, and had lost control. Of course, I thought I was the only person in the world that this had happened to, because I was keeping it a secret. I found the gamcare website and it has helped me enormously to read about the experiences of other people and to know that I'm not alone.

I have also sought counselling from gamcare and start next month...and it's free for me, which is important.

I absolutely don't feel sorry for myself and totally accept that it was my choice to place a bet. I now choose not to, but am bolstered and encouraged by the other people on this forum. Of course, it's not for everyone, but it's working for me right now.

Looking forward to further posts from you, it's good to be challenged at every level.

Best wishes,

Louise

Hi

I also accept that I am fully responsible for my actions and if I chose to gamble or not. I will however say this- you seem to be very angry at something (this site?, other people?) not sure the roots but you must realise that people have the right to deal with their own recovery in whatever way helps them.

If someone chooses to gamble again after a period of abstinence, that doesnt make me angry. Why would it? I can only control my own actions and will only ever judge myself by my own behavior.

I cant understand on any level why you would feel the need to come on to this site and rubbish the great work the people do on here. It may well be funded by the industry but that does not matter to me. The site has been a great help to me since I stopped gambling and the people on here are inspiring.

I would suggest that you avoid reading the posts here or even coming on to this site if it angers you this much.

Linda

Goggle addiction -is a continued repetition of a behaviour despite adverse consequences. Don't think any one on here blames any 1 but themselves,its all about support and gettin through the horrors that gambling has put them through.

Your in denial,sad man.

It makes no difference to me HOW gamcare exists, I'm just so glad it does. If you don't find it useful maybe you are in a different position to all of the people who have found this forum and support a valuable tool in helping us when we feel we need it. I really hope that in time you might change your mind and that you find it as useful and helpful as I have. Good luck.

hmmm...addiction & choice. When you're severely addicted to something, be it gambling or alcohol or other drugs etc you're choice about whether or not to use them becomes severely restricted. Even if you're not severely addicted to gambling if you're down on the day the urge to get your money back can be so strong that it's impossible to fight - the urge to 'cure' the emotional pain of loss of money becomes so great that it's nigh on impossible to deny. At that point in time, in that gambling state, there is literally no choice, a compulsive gambler just cannot stop.

I have screamed at myself to stop in the past, on my own in the flat, when in the middle of an internet gambling binge, it's like the sensible 'observer' sees what is going on & is fully aware of it but is powerless to intervene.

That is the one of the symptoms of addiction, any dependency removes a huge chunk of your free will. So in my opinion it can be or develop into a disease, the OP is approaching gambling from an unrealistic angle.

It is an interesting post NannyState, especially when it comes from the perspective of a CG.

With regards to GAMCARE, they do a wonderful job and, let's be honest, we would rather the industry make some sort of gesture than none at all. Should they do more? Absolutely - but those decisions need to be made by the government, and they are the ones who need to do more.

I have stopped gambling for around six years now after gambling for twenty. Opinion will always be divided as to whether this is a disease/illness - for me, it made me anxious, depressed, deceitful, dishonest, obsessed, and an insomniac - I am none of those things now and couldn't imagine being that way again; it is most certainly some kind of emotional vulnerability or mental deficiency that drives you to risk everything, knowing that you will lose in the end.

I think you want to believe that it comes down to willpower and choice NannyState; I can understand that, I have been there. The reality is that this does affect you physically - I remember sitting there many times, your stomach turning over and over, your emotions fraught, your mind a whirlwind of obsession - these are physical signs of something that isn't the norm.

This is the dictionary definition of "disease"

A pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.

If you are judging compuslive gambling by this term, then it certainly is a disease without question. But the bottom line is that no-one has the answers and no-one has a cure; all we have is experience and opinion.

JamesP

I find NannyState's post more than a little contradictory. First he/she claims the gaming industry isn't doing enough to curb problem gambling and then goes into a rant about how it's all the reponsibility of the gambler who could stop if they chose to. If gamblers can just decide not to gamble, why does the industry need to do anything at all?

Some rather confused thinking here.