Hey guys,
For the past 5 years I have had a heavy gambling problem. Prior to this I enjoyed the odd sports bet and was betting small and not very often.
In 2012 however I discovered online casinos, slots to be exact. From there I had a couple of wins from low stakes and thought this was a great way to have a bit of harmless fun and win extra cash. How wrong was I! Pretty soon I was losing like we all end up doing, I would then deposit larger amounts and play higher stakes trying to win back what I had just lost. I soon knew after spending my entire savings (which was a substantial amount) that I had a major problem. I quit playing several months ago but today I slipped back to my old ways and lost 3000 pound in just under an hour.
I feel so lI w and ashamed of myself and I am telling myself I will not gamble again but I don't feel entirely confident that I can stick to this promise I made myself.
I think I am taking the right steps by coming on this site and getting this off my chest, I just want to focus on my future and try so hard to fix my past.
This is the first I have actually reached out for support for this problem that has tormented me the past 5 years. Thank you for reading and hope whatever problems you may have can be put right.
Hello nk, welcome to the forum.
What i would say is act now while you have this rational view of the destruction gambling already has and will continue to have over you. I also gambled online, for 10 years. Im still early into my journey but i've taken big steps to block my ability to even have the means should the temptation take me.
Be honest with yourself and self exclude from all sites you have (for the maximum time frame). With online gambling you can also get blocking software for PC and mobile devices. Personally telling my close family was a massive thing, it is no longer my dirty little serect and they have really helped support me through this. On the back of that i have handed over my finances to them. I set a budget to live on for the month, the rest pays my debts and i have a small amount set aside to enjoy myself with (obviously not gambling!). To be honest i gambled so much i've got used to never having money anyway so this really isn't an issue as i would have only lost it anyway. Look into getting counselling. You can get free sessions through gamcare, give them a call. Talk about it, it all helps.
Being active and reading the posts of others on here really helps to. You can be totally honest and a lot of people on here have been through most of what you are feeling anyway.
As for the money, its gone. You have to move on. Chasing got 99.99% of us deeper in the trouble that gambling created anyway!
If you want to beat this you have to stop. We cannot gamble responsibly. All the best
Sjwsjw thank you for your comments.
I am glad you are on the journey of recovery and hope it is all going well. I know I can beat this thing. I am not sure about telling my family as I feel terribly stupid to be in this situation. I feel slightly better getting it off my chest on here and I think I will use the telephone option too to seek support.
I have never been me determined than I am now to pave a bright future and forget my dark past.
Best regards
Your not stupid at all! Rush of blood to the head happens to us all and I to have lost all my savings in the past... on a mad night in my bed on my phone! All my saving and lost on my phone shouldn’t be in the same sentence! Insane when I write it down! However it happened, stopping is easy really easy infect! Staying gambling free and another matter. Forget about the money, because if you don’t you will be chasing life saving and trust me that digs a deeper hole asbto win that amount takes maximum risk! Stress! And anxiety triple threat... and time lots and lots of wasted time. If you are serous block all access to online gambling, give up control and money if you can.... (found this really hard) but well worth it... and remember Those things you loved before gambling is it possible to get back into them? Boredom can be a trigger also? Feel like I’ve just ranted on your dairy... however makes sense in my mind hope you take something from it
Thanks for sharing, this site is a great source of support. I'm on day 2 it's hard but I will beat this. I wish you all the luck in the world to stay gf.
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