Hi all. Newbie here, I have gambled on and off for around 10 years now. I suffer from bipolar so there's time that's worse than others but for the last 8 months I have been really bad with online slots. Im now in around 6K worth of debt and I cant seem to stop and my mental health is taking a massive toll. What works for people, im currently having therapy so hoping that works. What works for you? Self exclusion? Blocking cards? Therapy? Hypnosis? Counselling?Â
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Thankyou
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Leoni 27
Hi Leoni
I'm sorry to hear of your struggles but at least you are here and sounds like you want to change. I can only talk for myself but to let you know, i gambled compulsively for 44 years from the age of 12. In November last year I finally decided to stop !
Here are the things I have done, in case anything helps you
1. Put all of the blocks in place regardless of whether I needed all of them. Just a fail safe so I self excluded with Gamstop. Closed all my accounts, self excluded directly with them and told them I had a problem so they wouldn't reopen them for five years. I installed Gamban on every device I have, Registered with MOSES and SENSE. Blocked my bank card for gambling transactions with my bank
2. Joined Gamcare like you have and went to as many chatrooms as I could
3. Went to Gamblers Anonymous meetings in person and online
4. Started walking to get the dopamine hits.Â
5. Opened up to everyone I know and started telling the truth. Connection is everything after years of disconnection. it helps so much to talk
6. In the first two weeks I spoke to the amazing advisors on here probably about 4 times per day (Just click the speak to someone and you can either ring or text chat)
7. Went to see GP and got mental health counselling which you have done
8. Worked on my recovery, researching the addiction on websites
9. Did the empowerme course on here
10. Got referred and started gambling counselling through the advisors here free of charge
11. Spoke to StepChange and got my debt sorted out
12. Unsubscribed from all emails related to any form of gambling
13. Watched gambling addiction recovery videos on youtube
14. Joined the get evive app
15. Regularly read posts on here and started journaling in the recovery diaries section
16. Started doing crosswords when I thought about gambling
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So I built a support network of people and things I could turn to when I need to. If you want to read more I've put up my life on the recovery diaries called My Story but it's a long read I warn you.
Good luck on your journey
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Stuart
Changing routines talking and more talking helped admitting gambling had me beat and life has become unmanageable were the things that helped me wishing you the best and hopefully see that your talking on here and things get better for youÂ
Hi Leoni
How are you doing ? Have you had a good week and stayed gamble free ? How are you feeling now ?
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