Diary 2

Hmmm.

Post 824 you are drawing a line and 825 you want the last word.

Your diary i suppose.

Move on Phil - its old news

This could be a first for me in my history on gamcare. But I’m gonna stick up for dan aka mr marmite (love that title)

I don’t think his original question was unreasonable or was it an attack. I think it’s more trying to provoke your thoughts give you a different view. We can’t all have the same views as it would be boring. If we all had one view what if we were wrong? To ask a question if I may have you come to one assumption one defining route or have you explored all avenues? I’m not saying either is right or wrong but I am open to every possibility. I can say that I highly doubt I got addicted to gambling just because it was fun. So if it wasn’t for the fun why was it I started gambling? Correct me if I’m wrong but phil you mentioned you had ocd? Would you say or not say your gambling started somehow through suffering from ocd?

No arguments just straight up adult to adult conversation.

I made it clear why I was expressing one final point after "drawing a line" as it was to do with the conversation I had with my friend earlier. I am moving on and with ultimate respect I don't tell people what they can and can't post on their diary. Cheers, Phil.

I was diagnosed with OCD when I was I was 23 and I started gambling when I was 40 and stopped when I was 43. I am now 45.

I had ocd when I was 18 from the age of 16 , 18 being the age I started hitting the gambling industry hard never diagnosed with ocd not even the web was available for diagnosis. Gambling compulsively good bye ocd . Connection? Most likely

I could write all night the rituals I had most you’d laugh about but it was time consuming I can tell you that much. Addiction saved me from the dam thing in a way. Lining up bottles and switching on the light a few times would of been a lot cheaper come to think of it . Well not with today’s electric prices though? Thank god I do neither anymore. As always phil best whishes

Sorry I didn't answer your questions last night W. To reiterate as I've said elsewhere, I have no problem with other people's approaches and am open to most. If people feel think this issue is a disease/illness - fine although I disagree.

I believe I started gambling because I was desperately unhappy with the state I was in with inappropriately treated, chronic and desperately distressing long-term OCD. Taking anti-depressants, anti-psychotics (people with OCD aren't psychotic by the way) and talking about my childhood didn't help at all.

OCD can wax and wane and I went through periods were I felt relatively well although it was always lurking in the background ready to pounce.

Gambling for me with hindsight was the ultimate inappropriate "distraction" - no buzz involved although the occassional feeling of excitement when I had a very rare win.

I had to fight my b**t off to access appropriate treatment for my illness - yes illness because OCD IS an illness and even had a meeting with the chief executive of the local health trust after a writing a letter of complaint) to express my concerns.

PS I wouldn't laugh at any rituals - I know the score, believe me.

Hi phil,

I’m not writing to disprove any ideas or beliefs. I just like sharing ideas. I’m not claiming to be right and if you ever want me to stop posting on your diary I will that’s fine.

I’m not a physiologist or do I have any degrees in the field. I’ve read various blogs, and spoken with a few people who work on the subject addiction. By the way a famous social media website beginning with t is an awesome place to share ideas on addiction.the community is a lot bigger than over here.

Bit about me I don’t attend ga, haven’t had counselling, no self exclusions , I handle the family finances. I believe in god but I’m not religious or am i an atheist. I am open to the idea of all of the above. Some will help people where as others they won’t.

Just before I got to my one year bet free date I returned from holiday, and I’d put that much focus on getting myself and everything ready for the holiday I hadn’t seen past it. Head dropped life become mundane again. Wobble comes and I started to think is this it? All that hard work to get a year bet free and this is it? So I started some research. They say go back and find the reason you started gambling. So I did. A death in the family close (wrote about that one in my diary) not long after came the ocd. I’m sure you know the consequences of the ocd rationale? We don’t save the world if we don’t do the things we do. Friend introduces me to slots the ocd disappears over night. Suppressed? Which brings my long winded post to an almost conclusion. OCD a mental illness. Addiction the medication. You mentioned you started gambling when you were some what upset? You could say you were depressed? Depression a mental illness? Addiction the tablet. So in a roundabout way addiction isn’t a mental illness but a suppressant for the former. As I said there’s over 200 mental illnesses and if you read enough diaries you start to see the link between people having at least one.

Just an idea?

Again best wishes and enjoy your Sunday

I have seen on a nr of threads about ocds and gambling addictions are different. They are on the same thread. I dont see how you can seperate them. Same behaviour as washing your hands to much having fear of spiders or kleptomania etc. It is an obsesssive compulsion dissorder and it (the compulsion) is created by our repetative behaviour. of gambling. Neuro plasticity is where the brain finds new paths of reasembling itself in case of a stroke for example is a way forward to retune and restart. Most psychiatrists beleive that is the way we ev get fixed. Books on the brain The Mind and The brain (Jeffrey M Schwartz MD) and Thinking Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Have a good Sunday 🙂

the major differences between a condition like OCD where there is there is no pleasure in having intrusive thoughts or performing rituals and gambling addiction is that for many the latter does bring pleasure, excitement etc.

I like your post above W - a good analogy.

.

salon.com/2015/06/27/addiction_is_not_a_disease_a_neuroscientist_argues_that_its_time_to_change_our_minds_on_the_roots_of_substance_abuse

This is an interesting article for anyone with an open mind.

This is your room so I won´t push the issue but you know what. The pleasure at some stage allways becomes a problem and is drowned with intrusive thoughts so I respectfully dissagree. Good article.

Fundamentally I have no problem with people disagreeing with me like the polite posts yesterday and today above from other forum users and respect their right to disagree with me as I move on and especially with advice from Forum Admin about MY previous behaviour which I've taken on board.

That is totally fine and I respect your views which on my diary I see as constructive criticism and an alternative point of view politely expressed and with no animosity (I've been there and bought the t-shirt hence moderation which I accepted).

I genuinely feel that anyone wanting to stop something destructive like gambling can - with good counsel, honesty, a realistic approach (ODAAT?/GA/Smart Recovery, Counselling) and pay back debts (not get bailed out sorry) can stop but it's not that simple for some of us with underlying issues which we are trying to address.

Best wishes, Phil.

I'd love to join today's 2pm chat but unfortunately I have to go the dentist - again. I feel like I'm being experimented on by the student dentists at the dental hospital.

Absolutely hate it and wind myself up before I go. Mind you I've never met anyone who LIKES going to the dentist!