I am 34 and was a gambling addict at 20

Most gamblers usually get into it young

I think I started at around 13-14 on slot machines can remember I lost £20 one Sunday afternoon and thought the world was going to end 

I was in the bookies and casinos by 17 and stakes increased with it , can remember I was working a sh1tty job in a cafe at about 18 stopped in the bookies on the way to work and basically lost 9 hours of wages before I even started working

can remember that being a very demoralising experience 

I was lucky I never really got sucked into online gambling in my 20's I was still making land based trips we only had one casino in town and it was a right hovel I would usually go in once a week lose about £150-200 and leave with my tail between my legs 

I was in about 10K of debt by 23 which at the time was a lot of money , I ended up in an IVA and spent the next 5 years clearing it 

Both my finances and the gambling are under control now 

It has cost me a lot  

can u share some inside tips how u managed 9 years things u did to overcome this horrible addictions how u over came triggers personally i have manage to become g/f for 2 years before a slip and have done 6-9 months many time most of the time i has no intention to gamble i do it for few weeks to few month then stop, i have other interests and gambling isnt fun how did you overcome gambling do u still get urges and how do u overcome them 

@tazman hi!

I wish i could give you an easy to follow answer but i will be honest, it was lots of things that i did that combined into me being able to stop.

I did a lot of reading and learning particularly into addiction. (Alan Carrs "Easy way to stop gambling" was fantastic for learning about the addictive part of why we gamble)

i also have had Hypnosis (RTT) and have done things such as meditating, writing a personal journal for myself to write down all my thought and feelings. and a LOT of working on my self esteem, and working to improve it and practicing self love for myself which i never had when i was gambling.

It was also imperative that i forgave myself for my gambling addiction, and had compassion for myself. what happened to me wasn't fair, and it isn't fair for anyone who falls into addiction, and not blaming yourself was a huge step for me after living for such a long time in guilt and shame.

If i were to give any tips it would be definitely start with a book on gambling addiction, make sure to read reviews, and if your living in shame and fear and guilt, most certainly read on self love type books, your a victim of addiction so have compassion for yourself, Don't berate and beat yourself up it wont help anything. 

i hope that has been semi useful, As i say i don't really have a straight forward answer sadly, but the 2 most important things that helped me personally was improving my self esteem and learning as much about addiction as i possibly could.

Jay

@tfx23o8r60 i really do appreciate i understand where u are coming from past truma and having little respect for myself was the worst time of my life, i have changed as a person and im doing far better then what i was doing the issue im having is generally coping with life i have cleared all my debts i even have other interests which fills the time and by all means im enjoying life without gambling the issues i personally have is when things dont go my way i feel vulnerable at times, i have other hobbies enjoy going to cinema playing snooker i was addicted to slots and roulette now its roullete nothing else it the only thing that kills me financally i enjoy eating out i feel like im getting closer getting out of this mess im already possitive the only issue i have how powerful this addiction is i stopped smoking drinking smoking weed never looked back gambling been the worst of the worst just 1 bet leads me into gambling binge i will have to invest in Alan Carr book maybe i day i could help others the funny thing is gambling adds dont even entice me anymore or these free bets my only issue is i get these strong urgues from time to time