Don't know if this will help you or not but what has hit hard with me is coming to realise that money isn't everything and that my family and friends are more important,my mental health and wellbeing aswell, as gambling is so devastating to so many people and a big cause for so many bad things that happen.the money that you earn should be spent on yourself or your loved ones instead of the bookies spending your money.give it up mate you will never ever win it back.youl always want more no matter how much you win.good luck
How do you know everything else will fail? The only thing I can see you trying so far is willpower...That’s what has failed! The reason you felt that handing over your cards was a step too far was because you weren’t done with gambling...You MUST keep that line firmly drawn under your losses & accept that gambling is no longer a part of your life! What is your rock bottom that you talk about? I’ve had it explained as: “Rock bottom is the point when the last thing you lost or next thing you are about to lose is more important to you than a bet.” But as has been discussed on here, rock bottoms have basements. I know what it’s like to have access to money & I know what it’s like not to. If you are serious about stopping, find a way to cut off your supply...No money, no gamble.
Addiction loves that you hate yourself, will happily convince you that since you are a failure you may as well carry on self destructing! You’re not a failure, you’re an addict & accepting you have a problem is but the start of your journey. Addiction is fighting hard to keep you...Recovery starts when you stop listening to your demons & start fighting to get them under control using all the help you need - ODAAT
Wise words from ODAAT you’ll only go so far with will power, I’ve got lots of it and gave up for 200 plus days but during that time there were times I tried to gamble on my phone because it’s so bloody easy ! Thankfully I was blocked on my favourite gambling sites and that was enough to stop me for that moment of weakness. It does help . Why don’t you put a few blocks in place and just try and make a week in the first instance - stopping for good can seem daunting but you’ve done 3 days - try and do 7 and see how you feel . Wishing you the best . I’ll be rooting for you
Going strong fought urge! Not giving them anymore of my money! I’ve adopted an us against them approach! I’ve I gamble they win and I can’t let them win!!! Thought about my losses today and thought, thank goodness I never last more when I was in the zone! Staying strong and will continue to post and talk on chat group
ODAAT wrote:
Addiction loves that you hate yourself, will happily convince you that since you are a failure you may as well carry on self destructing! You’re not a failure, you’re an addict & accepting you have a problem is but the start of your journey. Addiction is fighting hard to keep you...Recovery starts when you stop listening to your demons & start fighting to get them under control using all the help you need - ODAAT
This is so true. I was on self destruct, knew it and thought may as well carry on as if I'm ruined I may as well completely ruin myself until nothing left. It's such a horrible feeling, then you think how did I let myself get to this. Stay strong. It took me a long time to come on here, I knew I had a problem but I just couldn't divorce it. Just kept going back for more pain and knew it was bad for me. Kept thinking it's ok when I got excluded, when I thought I had control I went back. Just deposited a small amount, and won my best amount to date. That was it, instantly hooked again, just gambled it all away and it was my lifeline. I could of saved myself if I had just stopped there. Fell back down the hole and kept going and going till in a worst state as just could not accept my loss. I still am struggling too. I cannot afford to loose my home.
I haven’t placed a bet in 9 days really happy!!! Not long compared to sum people however every day at a time!! I’ve now self excluded myself from all my online casino! Well did this one week ago ias will power wasn’t enough, been with the same online casinos for almost 3 years each and they never even blinked, goes to show you they don’t care!
Well done! Keep up the great progress.
No the sites don't care, it sickens me to think how much richer I kept making them.
Self exclusion is a great step forward too, it's enough to fight the urge for me when I get it!
Keep on going!!
Hi Dogg
Really pleased to hear you have self excluded yourself from the on-line casinos. I truly believe we all need some blocks in place however strong we think our willpower is.
Well done on what must be 10 days GF now. Just keep it up.
Muststop
Hard times, really want to play and I’m fighting it big time! Interesting that when I think about gambling I don’t think of the winnings before I play I think about how much can I afford to lose! The answer to that is not a penny! Funny how getting your thoughts down on here can change your mind set take you away from the brink! I still have zero value for money and this worries me! I did a weekly shop felt great, today just feels like I’m rambling another day gf
Starting to get back the value of money! However this month in zero interest in saving! Reason being when I gambled and win the money sat in my account as savings, before I gambled it all away! Right now I don’t even chip and pin I lift money and spend it the old fashioned way! So funny seeing the look on people’s faces when u spend cash, they treat u like you have two heads, the amount of times I’ve been asked when did the 5s and 10s change? Haha my urges come in peaks, managed to keep them under control, boredom is the main driving force! Keep reminding myself that a grown man shouldn’t be bored as there a big world out there! I have completed all Xmas shopping something I couldn’t have done at the peak of my gambling, as back then I’d spend £50 and try and win £100 and end up losing £300! I must be the only person who has bought boxers for 1000s of pounds! (Boxers worth £10) if you catch my drift, still gambling free, feel as if my no addiction is not to gamble almost like a new game! This isn’t healthy at all however just being honest on my diary as I can..... finally got over my losses, I used them to go on a make be leave holiday, I have two kids twins who depend on me, going to keep going for them, not posting as much as the dairy and site reminds me of gambling, my post feel like they have turned into rants or general chat however they help me,
Still gambling free, not even tempted to play at the moment... Xmas is coming and I’m all sorted, read back some of my first post and it’s very dark funny what a couple of weeks can do
Hi everyone!Reading your comments here makes me more motivated to stop my gambling problem.Its all true that i dont even know myself the value of money anymore.I've been gambling for nearly 12 years now,wasting all my salary in my addiction of online casinos and sports betting.I have jst spent my whole salary last week in one day playing on my mobile to chase my losses of last month and that made my life more worst.I woke up the following day,questioning myself what i have done again?Yesterday i was thinking this has to be stop orelse i will lose everything including my family so i decided today to join gamcare and go in the forum and read all your comments and experiences to help me to tackle my gambling problem.This is my 2nd day of not gambling and i will keep fighting my demons.I want to be totally gambling free by 2018.
A way to look at the value of money is that your time is the most valuable thing you’ll ever have. You trade your time for money, so by not valuing money your not valuing your time. You’ll always have more money but only a limited amount of time to earn it, forget what you’ve lost up until now, tell yourself it’s ok to have lost as long as you’ve learnt a lesson. In time, being gambling free you’ll realise the price you paid up until now was actually a bargain. Good luck.
Hi Norland27,its true what you said that the best thing to move on is stop and forget chasing any losses.I have learnt my lessons and its never to late to get up and fight this addiction.Thanks.
While you’ve got time it’s never too late to stop. All the best ADJ, good luck
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