Outrageous Charlie but as I say no-one really gives a hoot, problem gamblers are cash cows to the gambling industry & they will do anything to keep us in their greedy mitts. Still gamble free, but pretty depressed, 30 years on the gambling treadmill has bound to have an effect, don’t really give a toss about myself, I’ve long ago accepted what I am but it’s the good people I’ve hurt, my kids who’ve been denied opportunities. Anyway can’t change the past, just need to try & be a better person in the future. Onwards & upwards.
Avoiding gambling can only be a positive thing especially on my mental health. I know the connections are somehow wired up wrongly in my head but I can do without all the pain misery & heartache gambling brings, all for what? The thrill of the turn of a card, the hope your horse goes past the post first, the jackpot on the fruity, they’re just fantasies built on sand to keep me going back time & time again. My name is Dave, I’m a compulsive gambler, just need to keep reminding myself.
Hey dave, when you realise what is actually happening in the real world not the nightmare gambling world you start to see things in a clearer way. You are right something in our brains is misfiring/ wrong connections etc whatever you want to call it but the trick is keeping it switched off and the only way is to totally ban all things gambling related and use all the help available. Willpower alone will not do it , relying on willpower alone in the past got me no where if I got to 48hrs I would be chewing my fingers, the gamechanger for me has been gamstop. Now 4 months gamble free my thoughts are different I see gambling for the evil thing it was in my life...no more I'm 54years old now and I'm not going to lose another minute to gambling. I will do whatever it takes ,GA meeting every week , log on and post on this forum every day, no access to bank accounts etc. You're doing good and your mental health will improve only look forward and just go day by day. Well done , keep posting keep yourself grounded by reading posts , I do and rarely a day goes by where I don't feel moved by something I've read.
Day eight dawns, no gambling, no thoughts of gambling. Had a skinful down the pub last night which usually leads to the fruit machine & then the bookies chasing my losses but it never even crossed my mind. Feeling a bit better in myself as the memory of my last binge begins to fade but must remain on guard.
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