Hello. I’m new here, and found GamCare and this forum through the RecoverMe app. I live in Canada, so please forgive me if things are different here and don’t make sense to anybody.
I’ve been struggling with my addiction for the better part of a year now. I’ve become fully aware of my addiction, and I’ve wanted to stop for several months, but the accessibility makes it feel impossible.
My main issue is online slots. No matter how many online casinos I self-exclude from, there’s always one that I haven’t tried yet. It takes 5 minutes to sign up and 30 seconds to deposit money straight from my bank account. I don’t have time to think about what I’m doing or the decisions I’m making. Only enough time to think “it’s fine” with some kind of ridiculous way of validating the fact that I’m depositing all of my money into this stupid new app.
It just feels so unavoidable. All of my social media is now flooded with targeted ads for online casinos and there’s just SO many.
I feel like I have no self control. I’m a self-employed visual artist, so I’m not exactly rolling in cash. But if I make $500, I’ll spend $400 of it within a couple hours.
I don’t know how to stop.
Hello PsychBreak,
Thank you for sharing your reflections and experiences here on our GamCare Forum.
Well Done for reaching out and taking these proactive steps in accessing support for your gambling. I can understand with how accessible it is online, it can be very hard to resist triggers and/or urges to gamble. I wonder if you would be open to putting in software blocks on your device which could help with this? Having software blocks such as Bet Blocker can help to block access to your gambling account as well as ensuring you do not continue to receive marketing messages from gambling companies. If you would like to know more and explore this then please access their website here: https://betblocker.org/
I also note that you are currently not in the United Kingdom and are based in Canada. Our 1:1 and professional support from GamCare is for UK client only. However, there are gambling support in your country too which would be more readily available to you – you can find more information here for Canada specifically: https://www.gamcare.org.uk/self-help/links-to-other-support-agencies/international-support-contacts/
We encourage you to find local support options to your region and country through the provided resource and access helpline through Gambling Support Canada on 1-8*8-795-6111 ( https://www.gamblingsupportbc.ca/ )
Wishing you well in your recovery.
Brielle
Forum Admin
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