Nightmare few months

Hello @thomas27

I am really sorry you are feeling like this, it sounds like it has been a difficult few months for you.

The forum is a great place for peer support, and as I’m sure you will find out, there is lots of advice, support and encouragement to help you with your journey.

Can I also suggest that you contact the GamCare Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or Netline to explore the additional support that is available to you. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you would like to talk to one of the GamCare HelpLine advisers.

Keep posting and sharing @thomas27

Helen

Forum Admin

90 days of abstinence and you should start to feel relatively normal again 

The financial damage is obviously a lot more complex to put a timeframe on 

Hi bro I totally understand how you feel we have similar situations, i'm only 18 and roulette, blackjack and baccarat have already ruined my life but the problem is I don't want to stop for some reason i'm way to addicted. ive lost just over £1K with I can definitely NOT afford so my life is a constant rollercoster of trying to win some of it back but ofc it doesn't work . good luck with your situation. 

I saw another member describe dealing with the losses by thinking, sure, £1000 in one session is a lot of money (I P****d that much up the wall over the last two nights in my own relapse), but IF you stop gambling, then that £1000 loss is equivalent to £100 a month over the next 10 months. That seems a lot more manageable, right? That's just 25 quid a week.

BUT the crucial thing here is that this only works if you stop gambling now. At 18 and 21 you'll get over the financial damage much quicker than you think you will. If you stop gambling now then this will be a distant memory in a few years time.

What I'd suggest is self-excluding from sites now. I self-exclude from the casino section of all sites, and just exclude straight up if the site only does casino (I've never had the same issue with sports). 

If it's sports and casino then just block the lot. 

Make sure you don't give yourself any backdoors back into gambling too - I made this mistake. I kept a few sites up my sleeve that I could jump on despite having excluded myself from most, saved them for a rainy day...stupid thing to do. I jumped on one on my birthday, won £1k, thought I was being clever. Month later and I've just that and more. That's the way it goes - you won't win if you continue. You haven't lost too much yet - of course it's all relative but you can work that money off with a job. But, if you continue then you will lose too much eventually. 

Love this comment! I recently got myself in a big mess kept trying to stop but kept thinking what’s the point it’s all a mess and trying to fix it by gambling but i was digging a deeper hole. I read this on here one day and said I need to get to that place first and then re assess my situation and I will be in a much better place. Currently I’m 33 days gf, long way to go but it’s a stepping stone i guess. We can all learn from each other bit by bit. 

I am 53. I am bankrupt. I am recovering from that and have another year before I can even concider myself back on track. When I was 21 I had a very small chance of getting back on track but I was to tempted in going down the wrong road. Then I got stuck there for decades. I lost families 2. I have been to rehab 2 times and bankrupt 1 time. Have had thoughts of ending things early because of the choices I took. I did not. I instead taught myself survival techniques that enabled me to get over the worst of times and feel happy in reasonably normal times. Choices. If I had the option to bend time and go back I would have chosen a different path. I would have liked to live more normaly but we dont get to change pasts we only get to change futures. I am not sending a bohoo story here I am just saying that you have a choice of change here because the less time you do gambling the less time you need to change it to something else but when you hammer steel enough times it will bend and your steel determination to stay the course may bend your future down a path you could avoid all together if you want. So choose wisely.

Best

C