Can you still watch sport when recovering?

Hi Mate

I suppose it’s different for everyone, at first I personally found watching sport Incredibly hard because although am a huge football fan, a lot of matches are boring so putting a bet on usually made it more interesting for myself.  Towards the end of the football season as my recovery was getting better I found it a bit easier to watch without wanting or feeling like putting a bet on.  When i was gambling i found my self watching too much footy, was watching lower league and all all different types like polish league Russian league etc all because I was betting on it.   While in recovery i found myself only wanting to watch the main footy games in the UK.  

If it’s something you really enjoy and feel you can maintain no gambling I certainly wouldn’t give up football. 

I can as I was mainly roulette and blackjack, I'm a big football fan too. I did do some football stuff but hardly any with all the other stuff, and I never placed a bet with a clear head. You will get to watch it freely again if you take recovery seriously, the problem for all of us is getting too comfortable, I can tell your sensible enough to realise this, I wish you luck.

I would say if you can play football instead or even coach it, it will ignite your love for it again and all thise positive experiences will be free of the thought of gambling. 🙂

Hi George299

I would say its all down to the monitoring you have in place and telling someone close.

My best advice would be to give the season a miss and go and take up a hobby that you really get into... windsurfing, music, collecting something...the list is endless lol

Your mind needs time to heal and you will probably realise that the main high you were getting from sport was the gambling...problem is gambling is highly addictive and a very strong hook. I know plenty of people that dont really care about horses etc until gambling gets involved.

In a way its too early for you to be involved in the outcome of any sport you were hooked on gambling with. even playing for chocolate matchmakers or having to wash the dishes will be too much as it fuels the gambling feeling

It will focus your mind on whether you really cared about all the football or just your favourite team....plenty of people watch the football without betting...its called the new religion although I only have a casual interest in my team and the world cup

Its a random event...you cant pick the players so just enjoy it for what it is. I always found it strange that a losing result would ruin my friends week but I understand how gambling gets into the bones of watching football

I still feel you need a long break and you need to tell people close you had a problem. You need more than just your willpower and youve got some cold turkey to do.

Your mind will heal and then you may be able to gently go back to watching it. However you can never be complacent again so keep your money safe and monitored

Best wishes from everyone on the forum

Wow I can only thank you all for the replies. I am getting my wages paid into an account my sister has set up from now on. She has helped me pay my rent this month (I didnt pay it as I blew pretty much all of my money in about a day, after payday) and I am to go to gamblers anonymous every week. 

I will come on here everyday and have set this as my homepage. To be honest I'm amazed that this forum isnt a lot more active than it actually is, there is huge amounts of problem gamblers. 

I think it is best I give sport a miss for a good while, like was mentioned I need to give time for my diseased brain to recover. 

Thankyou and I hope to one day be able to give people advice and stories on how to help/stop, if I am able to recover