What are thoughts about gambling?

Sounds like you've become much more savy recnetly! Wining individual bets is easy. Making an actual long term profit is impossible if you are prone to gambling addiction. If you are a problem gambler you can loose all at any moment, even in unlikely event you win big before hand.

Please could you explain your reply in more detail. I don't understand, sorry.

This subject was again discussed at GA and to be honest I thought more members on this forum would have had an input.

Anyway, I think as recovering CGs we will always have thoughts about gambling. If it was a place where you gambled, a sum of money won or most probably lost, these memories all reflect to thoughts about gambling. Probably a man/woman who has had 100s of lovers (I'm not one) can't remember every name and place but they will still have thoughts and memories of what they did. Sothoughts aren't a bad thing, its when they change into an urge the alarm bells should start ringing. So my "bookings" experience was an urge IMO. How we control these urges is another question. I took a shower! I know I can't do this in all situations, but it worked. Anywhere else I would have walked away, occupied my mind eleswhere and returned only if I felt well enough to do so. One urge in 9 months, I'd settle for that!

Thanks.

Hi Shep

As you say, there's a different between general thoughts, and urges.

I don't have any urges any more but I still think about gambling quite a lot. But there's no bite. They're just free flowing thoughts.

I'm a great believer in mindfulness and I believe it is very useful in the context of addiction. It allows you to see thoughts for what they are - they are just thoughts and they don't control you. Thoughts, particularly self-judgements are only bad when you start believing them as true and start living/limiting your life accordingly.

It's quite an eye opener, rather than 'believing' that people won't accept me for who I am - recognising that I'm having the thought, that people won't accept me for who I am...and then noticing that thought pass.

Rather than acting on the 'fact' that my only avenue of excitement is gambling - noticing I'm having the thought that my only avenue of excitement is gambling...and letting the thought pass.

Or moving beyond addiction, I've used it for performing live music. Rather than believe that I can't get up on stage and sing a song because I'm a c**P singer, too old, I'll embarass myself. Notice I'm having these thoughts - but then get up on stage and do it anyway!

It's simple yet it's profound in what a difference this can have. Noticing I am not my thoughts. You can't stop having difficult thoughts - that's what humans do, but you are not bound by them.

Louis

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Great replies guys. Thank you for adding your comments.

Louis, correct we don't have to follow through on any thoughts whether they're good and bad. We don't have to put them in to action otherwise the world would be a terrible place. They are thoughts inside the complex human mind.... But only thoughts nothing else unless you make the reality.

Allain, I agree us recovering gamblers will always have thoughts. However we must control if to put them into action or not. Sorry to hear about a pending court case, hope things go as well as they can for you. Keep strong, it sounds like your heads in a place where you're in control.

Something someone said In one my GA meetings:

"When I was gambling I was out of control. In recovery I'm in control."

Those words are embedded in my head. All the best.

Hi Shep,

I've very recently quit gambling so it s still very fresh on my mind. I remember from previous attempts after a few months being gamble free, I'd see odds of something in the bookies window or in the paper and think to myself "would it be great to stick X amount on that". Or if teams that I used to back frequently were winning, I'd feel like I had lost money n the fact that I hadn't had a bet on. I'd normally be betting again soon after, to try and make up the money that I hadn't even lost (sounds bloody ridiculous I know)

Hi Peter,

I too had feelings/thoughts like this, more In the earlier days of recovery than now. They do dwindle but as I said above recovering CGs will always have thoughts about gambling, it's staying in control and not taking the thought a step further that counts.

Even now when watching live sport I may think "I would have bet on that outcome" then that's it. In the bad old days I would have but who knows what the stake would have been depending if I was chasing or not! These thoughts don't hang around for long. My first urge only last 20mins maximum but after a shower had gone and I managed to watch the 2nd half without it happening again.

All the best in your recovery.