32 years old. Spent over £****. Recently really bad. Got parents debted up to the eyeballs and owe loads to friends. Pretty much every bill is a year behind at least. Master of deception, took friends and family for granted and they don't know it. Serial Liar. Used to be a really nice bloke but now unsure. Day 1 today. All blocks in place, however not self excluded from bookies as know the people in there personally and don't want my business all over the village. If I don't do this now, I'm going to end up very sad and lonely. To paraphrase Bon Jovi . . . It's now or never!
Keep going mate! Stay strong everything will work out fine in the end aslong as you aren’t gambling, we’re in this together
Hi Jayjay,
I too did self exclusion like you,and then accepted the opportunity of counselling offered to me. The very first session i was asked if i'd excluded from shops,when i said no counsellor told me i had to & gave me the number to ring saying she couldn't help me if i couldn't demonstrate i was totally committed.
I live in a village within several ex- mining villages & everyone knows everyone. I dreaded it them all seeing my photograph & gossiping but my wife also insisted i did it & there was nowhere to run. Looking back i'm sure they did have a whisper or two about me, but you know what ?. I'll bet the next day or next week another familiar photo came to their attention & they've long since forgotten about me & my shop ban. Quite honestly after 356 days of GF tranquility i don't give a toss what they think. The benefits of being clean far outweigh any concerns i have about who knows what about me.
Stay Strong
AL
Similar situation to you mate and if they are friends and family they should be able to accept that you have an issue and cant pay them back immediately. Be honest. Dont care what people think of you because you have self excluded yourself because I am 100% sure that if you end up sleeping on the streets because of the lies you have told your friends and family and cant afford your own place, their opinion of you will be much worse.
Thank you for your replies.
I see what you are saying but it's not an option for me as I have a local business too which relies on trust from the local community. My problems are mainly online anyhow. I get carried away and blow stupid amounts of money with every aspect of my life suffering. I have been on autopilot for a good few years now and I am sure a few other know that feeling. I wish I was a few months down the line as I am waiting for this haze to clear. There are some potentially some big problems on the horizon too as I dipped into money that wasn't even mine. I have a huge firefighting job coming up over the next few months at least. It's going to be a long time until I am out of the woods.
Day 2, half way through but I can't gamble anyway as I have nothing to bet with.
Day 4 coming to a close. Friends all talking about their betting. I feel like I have had my last bet. Everything still in the air at the minute!
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