i want to do this

Day 6. Not even thinking about gambling. But then I don't have a lot of spare cash. Feel so tired. Better than last week though

Day 10 still hanging in there. Can't do any damage cos I'm overdrawn everywhere I look. A blessing possibly. Week has went ok. Very busy which helps. Onwards and upwards.

Day 12. Fog is starting to lift. This can be dangerous as the feelings I had 12 days ago start to fade. That gut wrenching feeling where you don't know where to turn and that life is simply falling apart. These feelings need to stay fresh. Why oh why would I want those feelings back again. Presently I don't but I could go for 6 months without gambling and have done before. Complacency is dangerous. Im no different than any other addict. I am powerless over this. The sooner I get that, the better.

Still gf not even thinking or remotely wanting to gamble. Feeling positive despite the hole I've dug for myself. Little by little I will reach the top

Back again with more gambling under my belt. This morning was last bet.I’m not gonna say it’s going to be last bet. Maybe it will maybe not. An hour at a time. I know I feel out of control. Don’t have power to control it. Take this away. I can’t use it anymore

Hello Miss M and welcome back to the forum.

A couple of quick questions....

How have you been gambling? Online, bookies etc?

What blocks do you currently have in place to try and avoid gambling?

I have tried using willpower alone in the past and it has only been recently that I’ve realised that it is not enough....despite many, many, users on the forum telling me so.

This forum is a brilliant place to start to fight this addiction. There are many supportive people on here who are all in the same boat and striving to remove gambling from their life.

Wishing you all the best, Miss M.

You can do this!

Dan

Thanks Dan for your reply. I only gamble online on slots and it gets destructive so quickly. It’s seems to be emotional response to stress I think. Been doing this back and forward for 9 years. Sometimes I can quit for 6 months. I have excluded from a lot but there’s always more. Have been a few times to GA and I do think it works if you work it. But question remains as to why I’m not working it. Takes effort and commitment which I’m currently lacking. Hope you are doing well x

Is there anybody in your family/partner/friend that you can trust to handle your finances to ensure you stay on the straight and narrow?

You can also sign up to Gamstop, which is a site which will block you from using online casino sites.

These are two things which have helped me to abstain so far from gambling. My girlfriend checks my bank account every week to make sure.

Dan

Hi Miss M, like yourself I really struggle with online slots and have caused a considerable amount of damage to my life through them. After such a long time of gambling every day, I can say that the only thing that has stopped me from doing so is registering with Gamban and Gamstop. I did have a near miss yesterday on my son’s ipad but luckily I installed further blocking software. I literally cannot in any way access online gambling in my home even if I wanted to. Waking up today knowing this, it feels like a small weight has been lifted as there is just no possibility so no point in sitting there for hours, looking for a new casino or somewhere I have not excluded myself from to get a quick fix. This is something I would do daily until I now realise I can’t. Do you have any blocks in place like this? I had tried others in the past but could always find a way round them. Gamban is perfect for me as once it is downloaded it cannot be deleted and will remain in place for one year. I have read many of your posts and really identify with many. We have a horrible addiction with devastating effects and I wish you all the best in your recovery. I have tried many times and failed but with the support of one another, we can do this and one day we will have a gamble free life xx

Thank you Claire, it’s really comforting to find others who are willing to help and who understand what this addiction is like. I tend to be a binge gambler and it frightens me to the extent I do go when I’m in this place. I will put blocks in place now which will at least make it more difficult to gamble. I keep saying this and I need to take action as to shining a light on the reason for my gambling. Maybe abstinence needs to come first and then this will follow. I wish you all the best in your recovery too and just for today we will not gamble xx

Today is a new day. Just for today I am going to try and step out of myself and be the nice person I used to be. I have turned into a not so nice selfish, hard to live with human being. I am not this addiction. It’s a small piece of my life that is trying to take over my entirety. It can’t be allowed to succeed.

Once you have taken those steps and put blocks in place, it takes it out of your hands which is half of the problem. I think it took me so long to put the proper blocks on as I wasnt ready to give up or had not reached rock bottom but now I have and knowing that even if I try to gamble, I simply can’t. I agree that firstly we need to concentrate on becoming gamble free which enable us to deal with the issues why we have done this to ourselves later on. I do not recognise the person I have become and hate the situation I have put myself and others in. We need to forget the past and look forward, and once the ability to gamble has been taken away we can really look forward to recovering and overcoming this. Literally nobody knows of my secret life but I am so grateful to Gamcare and the people on here for making me realise I don’t have to be alone. We got this! Xx

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1782124489/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Please consider buying this book. There are a lot of good tips and tricks etc to try and stop gamblign here, but I really really have found this book useful. It takes away ones desire to gamble altogether,

Keep fighting.

E

Thanks for the recommendation Egdam, I have just purchased this now. Take Care

Just a quick one to say I hope you have found the strength to get through another day gamble free. I have done lots of thinking today and been on and off here reading diaries. The support on here is like nothing I have come across before. Hope all is well xx