GA

Hi DSC, welcome to the forum 🙂

I took myself off to GA after being here for about 2 years...The not gambling I was fine with (although at that time I stubbornly persisted with the lottery) but I felt stuck.

There are 2 very distinct bits to GA for me: the meetings & the Steps. I love the framework that GA has given me...It's like a blueprint for life & has made me realise that I had very little structure as a child.

I've been to 3 very different meetings (plus 1 AA one) & found the rooms to be quite different but all equally magical so if you have the choice of a few, hop around & find which suits you best. I can talk to a stranger on the train but I'm not good in large groups & I struggle sometimes but getting out of our comfort zones is really beneficial to us as we've been enshrouded in a gambling fog for way too long.

The support @ GA is second to none & much more reliable than reaching out on here when we're all in our sleepy times.

Great work so far...Recognising & accepting that you may need more is half the battle! There's a reason why people @ GA are lifelong members...They're keeping it real - ODAAT

Hi there :)).

I can't comment on GA because I've never been nor felt the need to go but many on here swear by it and for many it's the only way forward to work through recovery , it has a proven track record but I guess like any other form of handling our addiction it needs you to work the programme consistently to be of long term use , it's probably no good going to one or two meetings and thinking that's it I'm cured and don't need to attend anymore or even assuming that all meeting's are alike , I've heard people on the forum trying a couple of different meetings before they felt it was comfortable or the right meeting for them .

I'm sure you'll have many post's from others who do attend shortly and those will be much more knowledgeable than I am on the subject but I just wanted to respond to your question as best as I could .

Whatever you choose to do will require commitment and there are many way's , I personally chose to go it alone apart from this place and the support of my loved ones , that wouldn't work for everyone I realise but I guess I was ready to stop and for me failure doesn't bare thinking about . I've just completed 2 yrs so something must have caused me to have my Eurika moment ? .

All the best my friend :))

Sorry just posted that as ODAAT must have been writing above:))

You never know until you try it. For me it was probably the best decision I've ever made. GA helps me with all aspects of my life not just gambling. When I finally bit the bullet and went for the first time I was a broken man. Now almost 16 months later I'm still gamble free and much happier in general due to the advice and structure I get in the rooms. Truth be told the only urges I had were in the first 3-4 weeks, none since then. I simply don't have a desire to gamble anymore but am fully aware that if I stopped going to my weekly meeting all that could change.

Like ODAAT above I have abstained in the past but kept on doing the lottery for example (yes the lottery is gambling - something I used to deny also) but since attending GA I realised the only way is all the way. No gambling whatsoever. You are right there is no judgement in the rooms and we have all seen plenty come and go, relapse and get back on the wagon. I can only speak for myself and say GA has been life changing for me, not just in terms of staying off a bet which turned out to be the easy part!

All the best

I always say it's the best gamble I've ever taken. I remember my first meeting like yesterday, the relief I felt after sharing all my wrong doings realising I wasn't the k**b out there, I thought I'd go for a couple off week and all would be sorted that was nearly 2 years ago. I really look forward to it I've missed 3 meeting in 2 years, 2 when in hospital and 1 when I was away.

As Sam said you'll never know if you don't try we have a lot of people who come for a week or two I'd say give it 4 months and then if it's not for you and you don't see any improvement in your life you've give it a fair go, walk away and try and find something else that suits you.

Nothing ventured nothing gained.

KTF

Thanks for the responses!

I will certainly give it a go.

I'm not the CG in the house but Mr L goes weekly and swears by it. For him it's about not getting complacent. Remembering where gambling took him and why he never wants to go back. I like it because (as far as I can tell) it's working and because I don't have to trouble myself to try and understand something I never will.Everyone there 'gets it' in a way non-CG's can't and that is a relief in itself.

Let us know how get on if you make it to a meeting DSC7. I've just been to one tonight and have taken great inspiration from it, hard to explain till you experience it.