Will it never end?

Hello Trotty,

Even though we have felt the effects of our gambling addiction, we still sometimes fall back to gambling. Do not be so hard on yourself. Don't beat yourself up. We have all fallen back to this addiction in some way or another. Being a long time addict, I can tell you I personally have never met a person whom recovered in their first try. They may have quit after several tries, but not the first. The good news though is that it can be beat. It may not be on the 2nd or 3rd, or 300th try, but you will get there eventually. Do not lose hope. Others here have experienced what you have gone thru. Big accomplishments start small. One hour turns into 2 hours. One day turns into two days. Know your triggers and have a plan to deal with that trigger. I said it before, but I say it again, do not lose hope. You will eventually beat this. Regards - AM

Feeling your pain my friend, hope you get the strength from somewhere .good luck.

I have decided to just keep updating my diary page as it seems the most sensible place to tell my story and keep updating you all on my progress. The diary is called 'As Yazz said, the only way is up!'

Can you share with us the steps your doing to help trotty?

Well done for accepting this is a problem. Its certainly the biggest one i have

Tri

Hi Triangle,

Thanks for the interest.

First of all, I have told all those close to me, its the most difficult step of all but by far the most important.

I am also doing the following

Handing control of business and personal bank accounts over to wife and father

Installing Gamblock on all computers

Attending GA every week

Having a float for work (i'm a plumber) and having to show receipts for expenditure

Getting all debts on paper, with a payment plan, setting targets and planning is something I have always avoided when gambling

Setting myself short term and long term targets

Hopefully these steps will help me, it will limit my opportunity to bet. There is no way you can totally eliminate the chance to bet, but you can make every effort to cut down the opportunities.

Good luck with your own journey.

Hi t12f,

I've read you post and can only say some people need more than one attempt at giving up. Me included. I'm a relatively new member on here. What I can say is with the help and advice I've been gven on here I feel more confident than i've ever felt that I can quit for keeps. I've excluded from online accounts and got the site blocks on. i was in town today on some business and did'nt even want to visit a betting shop.

Just for the record my poison was mainly horses and football bets with small amount of online roulette.

I'm similar to you in that I've been to hell and back over the years.

Best Wishes

Hi Trotty

Looks like you're making a huge effort to stop this time - good on you for taking those actions.

I'm a long time gambler too, but currently 22 days gamble free and I find the online recovery diary has helped me far more than I thought it would - sharing your thoughts with people who know what it's like is a big plus - wish I'd found this site years ago.

Good luck and stay strong

Cheers

Andrew

Hi Trotty,

Big well done, for getting yourself together and having the courage to do everything you have done so far, which takes some guts to do.

There are quite a few people, who post a few times, but sadly you know they are likely to just go back to gambling, as you can tell, they are being half hearted about it. But, you have really taken the bull by the horn and certainly give the impression, you are really serious about turning your life around.

Good luck to you and the others in this thread who are also trying to beat this horrible addiction.