Im Young. But Will It Ever Stop

Hi Young1210

That you have recognised the problem early is very good. Millions of people have some form of gambling problem. If you nip it in the bud before you get into debt or worse, you can have a very happy life.

Read more of the stories that you find on this forum. They could involve you in 5 ,10 or 20 years.

Put in some barriers to help prevent you from gambling. the more barriers, the harder it will be for you to gamble. Never rely on your own willpower to stop gambling. Our ego can get the better of us and have us believing that we can quit whenever we like. Truth proves exactly the opposite.

GA and counselling will help you understand what you are facing. Don't think that you won't need help. The help you get now can save you from a lifetime of misery.

Best wishes

Thankyou Wal1957 I understand nipping it in the bud early is the solution, but i wake up in the moorning thinking about betting i feel the need to bet all the time, I dont see how this feeling can ever go away?

Yes i have started to put in barriers such as self exclusion and so fourth but Lately I have just been opening the accounts again and having a little flutter here and there thinking i can recoup my losses!

You will need to fortify those barriers. If your gambling online, install blocking software. Get someone to set the password so that you do not know it.

The urge to gamble will lessen given time. Have you got any hobbies that you can occupy your mind with? I find that by keeping my mind actively engaged, I rarely (if ever now) think of having a punt. I have been gamble free for 7 years now and have a lot of debt due to my gambling. I find that crosswords, logic problems, reading etc. are enough to keep my mind away from the thoughts of gambling. Of course coming on to this forum is another way of keeping my mind active. It is aslo a reminder for me of what I once was like.

Try doing this one day at a time. "Today, I will not gamble". The days will add up, and as they do, the urges will become weaker and further apart.

Put in practice a way of coping with urges. eg. carry a packet of chewing gum with you....if an urge strikes, have a stick of gum instead. The act of unwrapping the gum could be all it takes to lessen the gambling urge. OR ring a friend when an urge strikes and have a chat. Anything that breaks the thought of ganbling will help you.

Being a member of GA means that I have a list of phone numbers of fellow recovering gamblers that I can ring should I have any problems or urges with gambling. I would urge you to go to GA . Their support has made my ongoing recovery possible.

Take care

Hi young 1210,

Thank You for you post.

I am aware that you have received some supporting post from the nice people on here. You will not feel alone in your recovery journey on this Forum.

I have decided to change your wording 'End' to 'Stop'. even though I am aware that you imply stoping, ending could be a very difficult word for many as it could bring up many painful situations.

Hope this sits well with you,

We are all here to support you. If you need to talk in confidence contact us on our Free Helpline or 1-2-1 chat.

My Regards

Florence

Forum Admin.

Thats fine sorry for any misinterpretation Admin

Wal1957 I understand keeping the mond active is a way of eliminating the thoguht of betting but dont you find it hard to keep it active for a sustained period of time?

I underwent my first day of not betting today i woke up this miirning with a big urge to gamble, i looked at oddschecker and looked the prices, i even lined up a 6/1 treble (that i didnt put on) that came in as i looked later on in the day, this made me want to gamble more believing that i could have won alot there but anyway i resisted and felt proud.

I kept my mind active with 8 ball pool on the iphone, very weird i know, im not sure if this was cheating as i was gambling fake coins in pool matches, does this constitue as getting away from gambling altogetehr i was getting a kind of adreniline rush as i put all my fake money on the line ( childish i know ) but i kept me away from the real deal.

thankyou so far for your replys i really appreciate it!

Hi Young,

I think it gets easier as the days go by and also it does get easier as you get older. I'm still pretty young (24) but when I look back to how I was the last few years I'm embarrassed. I think you get a bit more mature and realise that there's much more to life than gambling and there comes a time when you have to call it a day. Unfortunately it's not as easy as clicking your fingers (trust me I wish it was), and going from doing something you do every day to never is always going to leave urges and thoughts.

I'd really focus on taking it one day at a time. Fill your time with other things - work, sport, seeing mates. Anything just to keep the urges away. I think you really have to be fully committed to stopping and if you are, things will get easier over time.

Keep it up, there are a lot of good posts from experienced gamblers here and it'd be reckless of us both not to listen to what they have to say and learn from their mistakes. All the very best with it, it's a long road for us all but a road of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Unstoppable