Here I am, lying in bed unable to sleep at 5am after getting in and wasting £300 on my iphone casino app! After having a big win a few days ago it may as well not have happened, however this to me is the norm now, sadly. I am 21 years old, with a reasonably good job, after being told by friends I do have an addictive personality, I really do, I can't to things in halfs, I'm always the drunkest at a party, or the biggest winner/loser if I go to the casino/bookies with friends. I actually enjoy horse racing and believe I can control my habbit on that and football, my real problem is casino games, FOBT's and more recently on my phone, which believe it or not is even worse than FOBT's the wheel takes about 5 seconds to spin and that's it, can loose hundreds in the matter of a minute! I need to stop, I wouldn't even want to know how much I have lost since I started gambling at 18, it's frightening, I have read posts in here of people losing family, wives, and houses which is of course, tragic, I just worry only being 21 if I keep this up I will never have a wife, or a house and all because of gambling, I really don't want to tell my parents or anyone I know, I just feel stuck in the phase that won't' go away, I can't get off the bus and walk home always find myself in the bookies, spinning away my wages, I feel that gambling has effected my emotions, I see people shouting at the machine when they are losing or fist pumping when they win, this for me rarely happens, unless I have a huge win I may give a small 'yes' under my breath, gambling truely is the devil!
Time for recovery Tamastar...You have come to the right place 🙂 There is nothing you can do about your addictive personality but you can do something about your gambling addiction! I am sorry to tell you my friend that for you, like myself, there will be no controlling it! The only way to escape this Hell that you are tumbling into is to quit! Get reading, figure out what blocks you will need to break the Time-Money-Location & set them up! Gambling does dull our emotions but it doesn't take away the negative ones! The only way to start feeling again is to start your recovery & take things One Day At A Time! Many of those people here you have read about have indeed lost a lot more but they are here figuring out how to get themselves a better future & are doing that! Don't throw your life away like we did! Phone Gamcare & get some professional advice, this is a difficult journey & you will need all the support you can get! You will find that here - ODAAT
Hello Tamastar and welcome to the Forum,
The fact that you posted here shows that you want this situation to change and that you want better things for yourself. You just need some help to get over the ‘habit’ you got into which leaves you in a bad place financially and emotionally. It also comes across that you are isolated and your relationships suffer. You are only 21 and you have your whole life ahead of you and you can start taking control over the situation now. There are better things you can do with your time and money and since you can’t see gambling as a way of having fun and control how much you spend on it, the best thing to do is to stay away completely.
GamCare advisors can help you with your recovery by providing advice and in-the-moment support. They can also refer you to face to face counselling which can be a way of understanding the reasons behind your addictive behaviour and how to change it in order to find some balance.
It’s great that you have taken this first step of posting on the Forum, just think of taking the next one now and get in touch with an advisor, as there is support and you don’t have to suffer in silence.
Best wishes,
Forum Admin
Hi Tamastar - You're still young enough to sort this out and have a long and positive gamble free life, but it's about taking small steps and managing a day at a time.
I'm 15 days gamble free and have had a problem for over 15 years but this site really helps - try setting up a recovery diary on here and updating it every day - it may not work for everybody, but i find that it really keeps me focussed.
Good luck mate - be strong and do the best you can to get your life back.
All the best
Andrew
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