DГ©sormais......

Hi Ade

Just read your post from last night. The following paragraph hit a chord as it applies equally to myself.

I think that the thrill and rush that gambling can bring was something that I found was a way I could get a high. Sad as it sounds. Even if I lost, i'd had the rush.

hey you,

you know you can do this

stay strong

L xx

Thanks for the posts Shiny, Steve, R and D, Captain and Lib.

Tidied my shed today, then tidied the rest of the garden, chucked out an old slide that the kids have out-grown. Cut the grass, tidied the kids playhouse, planted some pots, dug over the vegetable plot, played with the kids and now am just chilling with an ice cold beer.

Did not venture out the house, and therefore did not gamble and did not spend any money on anything.

I have an appointment tomorrow with my cardiologist to have an Echo-cardiogram heart scan. 6 months since my last one and this is to see where we go from here.

To see whether the meds are helping my dodgy valve over the last 6 months or whether I am going to be looking at surgery to repair the valve.

Good day today, feeling strong

Cheers all

Ade

Sounds like you had a productive day in the garden - a much better place to be than in a grim gambling establishment. Good luck with your heart scan tomorrow. I don't know about you, but my heart used to palpitate quite badly when I was in the heat of loss-chasing gambling - made me quite worried - it's certainly more relaxed now. I hope yours is too. Gambling wrecks our health along with everything else.

Hey Ade

Just googled desormais and knew I knew it from school french...." from now on" ....I shall not forget ...lol x

Thanks for the supportive posts.

Indeed R and D. Désormais = Henceforth... ;0)

Just trawled through my old diay and found some old text that I posted back at the end of 2011.

I remember finding it very interesting, so i've posted it again on this diary as a constant reminder.......I hope it helps....

Gambling and the brain:

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays vital roles in a variety of different behaviours. The major behaviours dopamine affects are movement, cognition, pleasure, and motivation. In certain areas of the brain when dopamine is released it gives one the feeling of pleasure or satisfaction. These feelings of satisfaction become desired, and the person will grow a desire for the satisfaction. To satisfy that desire the person will repeat behaviours that cause the release of dopamine. For example food and s*x release dopamine. That is why people want food even though their body does not need it and why people sometimes need s*x. These two behaviours scientifically make sense since the body needs food to survive, and humans need to have s*x to allow the race to survive. However, other, less natural behaviours (i.e. drug taking and gambling) have the same effect on one's dopamine levels, and at times can even be more powerful.

Because the outcome is based on chance, one does not know prior if he or she will win. Therefore, if the person wins, dopamine levels increase. One study concluded that pathological gamblers most often experienced traumatizing experiences when they were younger and that their dopamine levels were lower than average.

The process of becoming a pathological gambler is where one insists on gambling even though he or she knows that the odds are against them. This is the case in all casino games, where the games are structured for the house to win. Probability and reason no longer are the most important factors in decision making. The unconscious need for the release of dopamine becomes most important.

This mental process causes addiction in approximately 4% of participants.

The 3 stages of Problem gambling:

If you choose to gamble you do not automatically become a compulsive gambler the first time you start gambling, the change happens over time. For some, it happens faster than others, but typically there are three stages that you will travel through before you become a compulsive gambler.

•Winning -The first stage is the winning stage, this is where you are just discovering gambling and how it feels to gamble and WIN!! The feelings produced by winning are great. You feel happy and everything seems right with the world. You are making money and feeling great at the same time, what could be better? This stage sometimes lasts a day or two, or sometimes it will last longer depending on your luck. During this stage, you might start feeling confident about gambling, and you may think that you have the system beat, and therefore may place larger and larger bets.

•Losing - The second stage of gambling is when reality hits and you begin losing your bets. This is where you will feel the ‘high’ of gambling less and less, until you rarely experience it at all. Typically, you will start to gamble alone, and may begin hiding your gambling habits from friends and family. As you lose more and more money, you may begin borrowing or stealing money to pay for your habit.

•Desperation - The third stage of gambling is the most serious. During the desperation stage, you increase the amount of time and money that you spend gambling until you are in serious trouble. During this stage, you will start to experience serious debt problems, your family life may begin to suffer leading to divorce or separation. You may lose your job and find yourself in a dangerous cycle without much hope to escape. It is in this phase that some compulsive gamblers will resort to desperate measures to fix their problems including illegal acts or even attempting suicide.

The progression through these stages of gambling will vary depending on the personality type of the individual and the type of gambling that they engage in. It has been found that people, who play instant gratification games such as the slot machines, video slots or video poker, including online gambling, will experience these three stages faster than other gamblers.

Personally, I can relate to all 3 stages.

Keeps strong all

Ade

ade

great post fella

to make a moral inventory of ourselves is a huge step to understanding ourselves in a educational way.

this helps to build not only our resolve to abstain but in even greater regard it will improve our self respect.

something gambling eats away at.

keep up the good work my friend.

one day at a time

Duncs stepping forward never back.

Afternoon Ade.

Hope this finds you well.

Interesting post,much food for thought.

Like you i can relate to all 3 stages.

Stay strong mate,

gazza

.

.

Afternoon Ade, hope this finds you well.

Thanks for your post on my page.

When i hit rockbottom 15 months ago, life as i knew it, was almost over for me.

Some thing in my brain clicked that I couldn't gamble again. i needed to get some self respect back and to prove to my partner and mother of my kids that i could be trusted again not to gamble.

Like Dunc and others on here, it has become a daily challange not to gamble,one that i'm ready to take on. I couldn't put my partner through the emotional turmoil-i've done that twice and it's twice too often.

I wish you well my friend. You are one of the reasons i've managed to get to 15 months and i thank you for that.

Best wishes Ade,

gazza

..

Just deleted my posts ...thinking out loud on the post you wrote on dopamine but may have been misunderstood...pharmaceutical drugs big part of my job xx

Thanks for the posts Duncs, Gazza and R and D.

Had a break from the forum for a bit. Some good and bad days.

Today is definately going to be a good day for me.

Lots planned and no time for the gambling demons to enter my head.

They have been around too much lately, and feeding off my weak moments.

I again drifted back to that feeling of invincibility that you can feel when everything is going for you, but before long it evaporates into losses and the whole pointless cycle is complete.

It's a journey that I have taken too many times, yet it always takes me to the same destination.

A sad yet recurring theme for someone who I once thought was quite intelligent and sensible.

My own low self-esteem and mood contributes a lot to my failing at caving in to the demons.

My barriers are not strong enough and therefore I know that the inevitable will occur.

Time on my hands is always the worst time.

That's why today I have a lot to do and will keep strong.

I must change this cycle and I must be strong.

Ade

I hear ya on the barriers not being strong enough Ade..that's why I live in here and avoid 3d people as much as I can.

glad you're around xx

HI Ade,

You are still inteligent and sensible its just jaded by gambling, Gambling changes us when we are in action, it makes us hit the "f***k it button", we care about nothing or no one, we dont think about the concequences of our actions on ourselves, on our finances and on our family.

Ade is still in there , he is just lost everytime he gambles, and the cycle continues.

The cycle can be broken, but you have to do it, I always say about each day we dont gamble we are building a body armour to protect us, each day add a little bit, some strong blocks to protect you, a bit more pride and self worth, some hope and confidence.... A little bit each day you dont gamble.....

You can do it ade, I know you can.

take care

blondie xx