Hi mate
I know you were saying the opposite but I can't believe some people who spend hours per day for years gambling and do a bit of recovery work and think it's all good. We all know how that ends and I see it in GA rooms all the time only for them to come back six months later to start again with more debt, more lost time and more mental damage.
For me it's about finding a balance to put the work in every day for life..I've seen people relapse after ten years so I know it's always there waiting to strike. It just gets easier each day.
Today im a day further from my last bet but I'm still one bad thought and action away from the next one.
Spot on Stuart. Maybe other addictions are a little different in that, a drunk can get drunk one night or a drug addict can take drugs one night. Ultimately they could spiral back down into addiction but they could easily stop right there at one relapse, one day and not much will have been lost. Whereas the nature of gambling involving money and it's entirely possible to lose thousands, tens of thousands of money in just a couple of hours. I think the potential cost of one slip up with gambling is higher I think although of course any kind of addiction can destructive in it's own way. True one little slip up might only mean a small bet for some people but the completely addictive nature of it means that's it highly likely the things will escalate and you go back to chasing the feeling. You can never get complacent with this thing you have to view even placing one small bet as tantamount to your complete ruin. That should give you the motivation never to go back there again.
Day 39, one thing I have noticed without the gambling is that the stress levels in my life have dropped. I think maybe it's less understood that gambling does damage to your health it terms of all this anxiety and stress it piles on your life. For a lot of people gambling starts as a way to relief stress and anxiety, in a way it does do that once your mind is distracted on that and you aren't thinking about your own life, it can do that. But you have to realise that ultimate further down the road the gambling just leads to more stress and anxiety. In fact it becomes a greatest source of it in your life. Especially when like I was doing, you end up betting money you can't afford to lose, gambling money you've borrowed. I never want to feel the dread of having completely wiped out all my money and having the dread of what the hell am I going to do now.
Hi mate
Spot on with this. gambling masks many mental health issues which flood back in recovery alongside feelings. The moment I stopped the chaos it all came to the forefront but that was good, knowing what to tackle
You’ve nailed that too a T!
I use gambling as a blocker to many of my emotions that I’m feeling that day - whether it be stress from work, arguing with my partner, upset about anything in general - gambling was always my solution and really…my escape. Just a very unhealthy one that only led to more problems.
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