It seems that my family is broken beyond repair :-(

Hello Dave77 and Welcome to the forum.

Im sorry to see this and my best advice is that you have to accept that it is one of the devastating results of gambling addiction.

I know you have never done it with an evil laugh to hurt your family but its an addiction so powerful that it creates secrets and lies from our loved ones.

They naturally feel cheated and lied to. You can only hope they see something in your recovery and are prepared to learn more about addiction. When you love yourself again and feel your pride and self respect have returned,,,its an attractive quality.

The truth and you must face the truth is that i didnt just gamble with money.......I gambled with my self respect my dignity and my relationships. I gambled on money I had defrauded from my parents and pretended they were little white lies. I was very ill with addiction and i didnt know how much. Every sneaky note I fed in was hiding from the truth....hiding from real life!

We dont know your relationship and we are not relationship counsellors. Separating some facts you can not blame her for reactions about gambling and your first thought is that she is more protected now with the knowledge and information you have given her. 

If you have feelings for her that is a good thing

I hope you can work it out and feel that will rely on your loved ones beginning to realise you were ill  and there is no shame in reaching out for help.

Yes its hard and this is what is so devastating about gambling. In a way I wish it only affected the gambler but it doesnt...it takes everyone around you on the hell ride.

I hope the government and gambling commision read some of these stories because we were never protected from it. I doubt they do and like millions of others your story is a true result of a monumental scam

Please ring gamcare again and keep talking to your support network. I hope your partner has a support network as she may well need counselling over this

Best wishes from everyone on the forum

Hello Dave,

I have been in an identical situation, and I’m sure there are lots of people on here who have too. As a matter of fact I’m still going through it as it’s only recent since I was caught. Time is important, naturally you’ll be thinking ‘what if she can live without me? What if she doesn’t need me?’. It is tough cause we are liars, but we don’t direct our lies at anyone for reasons of hatred. For me I lied to everyone, not a single person knew cause I couldn’t risk my secret coming out, because the reality is we want to avoid this position. My best advice is keep doing you, try to communicate with her, speak to mutual friends, its difficult if friends tell her what she wants to hear rather than what she needs to hear. But give it some time, be there at the drop of a hat, childcare, gardening, cleaning, DIY. Ultimately actions speak louder than words. The risk is always going to be there but you need to show her you’re moving on. 

all the best 

Thanks, I guess my question would be - when will it start getting even a little bit better? Also, if she never gets to a point where she is willing to address and possibly seek help for other issues that she has deep down, then presumably things will never get better and just keep getting worse until everything breaks? Imagine, a full split including divorce, devastated children and then massive regret afterwards. That would be terrible.

Hi Dave,

Reading this is like looking in a mirror, lockdown has taken its toll on me and my relationship. My partner has just found out about my gambling and debts. I'm in a similar place and am hoping after some time she may trust me again.

I was asked to leave but said no, I'm a family man and I'm needed here with my kids as I'm sure you are.  Her immediate reaction is that you have betrayed her so give her time, hopefully she will see what you are doing and you can work on things.

Stay strong mate

Thank you for your reply. 

This is exactly what I am going through right now and can’t seem to have the strength to not walk past a betting shop no matter how much I know what I am almost going to lose I’m trying anything now to stop it

Andy - thanks for posting here. I suggest trying to attend a GA meeting, there you will hear from lots of different and experienced people. 
I haven’t been back here for a while now, as things are turning around for me… worth giving it a go. 
Good luck.