Where do i begin?
i started gambling when i was 18, i'm now 22 years old. The amount i've lost is meaningless, all i know is that it's a lot of money. Even if or when i win that's pointless tpp because it will all end up back in their pocket. We can never win.
started off going into the bookies, playing on the fobt's,m roulette, the dreaded game. As i got older my stakes increased, won some lost some, lost more and then lost again. I've now reached the point where i have (roughly) £5000 debt with my dad who i pay back a monthly amount every month, i also have a loan with a reputable company to which i owe roughly about £4,000. What do i have to show for it? absolutely nothing.
i really need some advice from someone older who's been here, know what it feels like and some examples of what will or could happen if i don't stop this now. Any time i lose money i have to arrange something so that i can get it back, by then creating more debt just to say i have the money in my pocket again. I struggle daily, with this terrible adiction it has drawn the life out of me as well at the same time along the way making me extremely ill.
I really could use any help or guidance anyone can offer me, it's got to the point now where i'm not really bothered if i win or lose and i know that's npt right. I have to work so hard to gather any savings i can together and this just seemed to be so fast and easy.
i want to get straight, more than anything. Just need some help to do it.
Thanks for reading,
look forward to reading your replies.
Lifelesson1
Hey life!
Welcome to gamcare, you will find lots of people here that are in the same situation as you and can relate to you.
From the sounds if it your in about 10k worth of debt financially?
this is repayable, I'm 15k In debt after years of heavy gambling which I now have a financial plan in place to repay this back and I have been financially secure (although skint) for a while now. I am even going on holiday in July to lanzarote for 10 days which I paid for myself with my works wages! I haven't gambled for over 1 year now and have no desire to ever revisit that part of my life again.
I remember when I was late into gambling addiction where I started to get to the point were after losing once again I was like, oh I don't care if I lose. I'v lost so much anyway, what's the point trying to make things better I'v already f****d up.
i felt hopeless and angry at myself, like I had already ruined my life and trying to not lose more money felt pointless as too much damage was done.
but now that I am 1 year free from gambling and am slowly repaying my finances back, I honestly don't care that I am in debt (lots of people get into debt) I am much much happier knowing that I don't have to gamble anymore and that I don't have to go through the feelings of guilt, despair, panic, depression and worthlessness that came with my gambling addiction.
the one thing I have learned more than anything from being gamble free for over a year is that money isn't the key to my happiness (having it or not having it). Debt isn't the end of the world, and being free from those feelings of guilt, despair, panic, depression and worthlessness is the real reason I am happy now. I can live a positive life again, something that gambling would never allow and I thought I would never get back.
There is never a rock bottom to gambling addiction. because with gambling there's always a way to make things much much worse than they are now. And the most soul destroying effect gambling addiction can have on you is not on your finances, it's on your self esteem, your self worth, and your ability to be happy.
They are the best reasons to get away from gambling addiction and i promise you they are worth fighting for.
Hello, your story is exactly the same as mine, except your 3 years in front of me, me being 25, i was probably in the same amount of debt you are now, if only i could turn the clock back and be 9k in debt, i, like you will if you dont find a way out, continued gambling on and off, came clean to someone i love the most, then started gambling again after breaking her heart, now im around 18k in debt, working my a*s off to pay stuff off, there is no magic wand that can be waved over you on here and make you stop gambling, the best and only advice i can give is do all the sensible things such as closing accounts, setting daily limits on deposits, or install the blocker (ive never used it) also find something you enjoy doing, for me i got into the gym and this took my mind off gambling alot, so find something that you enjoy thats cost effective and isn't gambling. Theres hundreds of people on here that would give anything to be 22 again with less than 10k debt, don't throw the rest of your life away, sweep the losses under the carpet and take it as a life lesson, post on here frequently and take things from pepoles stories
good luck
hi, thanks for getting back in touch with me. I really want to move forward, i'm going to call the GP and look to do Cognitive behavourial therapy. hopefully that will help. how do i look forward? any tips at all? really appreciate any.
thanks
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