Hi All
Back here again seems like a vicious circle, I’m probably in the biggest rut I’ve been in a long time trying to chase money. Started gambling when I was 18 I am now 25 I’ve been brought up in a horse racing mad family and I’m still mad on my horse racing it’s a passion mine not just the thrill of betting it’s so much more than that I’ve been horse mad since I was a child so could never stop having a bet on the horses but that’s where the problem lies. I wouldn’t mind having the odd bet on racing but it never ends up just an odd bet, I also gamble on football but instead of being happy loosing a little and limiting I chase my losses. I think it’s because I worked out using my betting apps how much I have lost and on average I’m loosing about 3000 a year on online gambling.Â
I have a good job and I’m not in debt but it makes me sick to the stomach what I have lost over the years. My family and girlfriend know i gamble and know I gamble too much but they don’t know the extent. I have never gambled more than £50 on one single bet but it’s the amount of bets I place a day it all adds up and it was a real eye opener seeing the figures in front of me. Online gambling is the total devil it’s so easy, I would never walk into a bookies and blow what I do online it’s just a number on a screen. I really need tips on being able to put the past losses behind me and move forward but it’s a constant burden in the back of my mind wanting to win even half of the losses back. I suffer with anxiety and depression which isn’t down to the gambling but it’s not going to help the cause.Â
I have friends with drug addictions, drink dependant and they are frowned upon but for me gambling is the silent addiction. It’s not spoke about enough or frowned upon but for me it’s the worst addiction of them all. It can wipe someone of their life savings within a blink of an eye. It really is scary.Â
Any advice appreciated.Â
Hi cd994, if there is a good side to online gambling its that you can put a stop to it if you want - a real stop, ie even if you want to you wont be able to, kind of stop. Go to https://www.gamstop.co.uk/ where you can self exclude yourself.  That way, in around 24hrs any accounts you have will be closed off and you wont be able to signup.
Like you I never went into a bookies - online, watching the little ticker as the game continued and I was praying for the goal to be scored, was my addiction.
It sounds like you are making the right decisions now, while you still have the comfort of knowing your not in debt due to gambling and can come out of the other side.  Definitely do it if you are serious about stopping, it will curtail it immediately, then you can work on the why you did it and how to replace those highs with something better.
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