I am 25 and since I've started working I never made it to the end of the month with money in my bank. If I didn't need to spend it, it was gambled. A lot of times when I did need it, it still was gambled and I would try and survive from loans and help from friends and family. So far gambling has ruined my life. I have so many memories ruined or lost. Simple things that I've always wanted to do. Gambling has stopped that. It has ruined relationships and I can't even explain how I've gotten this far in my life.
However, it has been 35 days since I last gambled. I have taken all precautions to prevent myself from gambling again but apart from this one hour episode the other week where I only considered it. I have not had the urge to do it. I have tried to stop before but I never took it too seriously and always thought I could control it (obviously I always ended up back to square one).
Gambling turned me into someone I never imagined myself being. So I've been doing lots of research into addiction, bad habits and self improvement. I feel this is really helping me so far. I didn't want to just replace the gambling. I wanted to stop and fix whatever it is in my head that would make me do this to myself.
I know it's only just been over a month but I have never felt like I have had so much control over myself. I really do not want to gamble again and finally I feel like I have beaten it.
Here are some of the things I've found that have helped me so far:
Self exclusion. Gamstop. An easy first step.
Just accept that you will never win that money back and that you have to take this as a fresh start.
Tell everyone close to you. The right people will stick around no matter how bad it is.
Focus on being better for other people as well as yourself.
Have someone close to you have the ability to check your bank account or send them statement whenever they want it.
It takes 21 to 90 days to break a bad habit. Keep track of how long it has been since you gambled.
Don't just stop gambling. I'm stopping all my bad habits e.g. smoking, not looking after my health as well as I should have been. Instant gratification is always appealing but not always the right choice. Spend at least 5 seconds thinking about your decisions before you make them.
Making lists.
I now make lists about everything from what I'm doing today to what to do if I feel like gambling. I feel like this allows me to get my thoughts out and it also makes me think about my decisions before I make them. Stopping any bad decisions.
Finally just hate everything about gambling. We don't need it at all.
I hope this is helpful to some people out there. I am still going to be extremely cautious and never take this lightly. I am really looking forward to a life without gambling and Never again experiencing the pain it has caused me.
I’m not sure GamStop 100% works as I was bored one day (off sick due to surgery) and just out of curiosity tried to sign up to xx to see if GamStop works. I managed to set up an account with ease, I believe they are a British online gambling business so I shouldn’t have been able to sign up as from 2019 all British based online businesses were supposed to be signed up to this GamStop thing!! But anyway the constant advertising and marketing is annoying and makes it hard for me as I like to watch sports.
Having only tried to sign up to two online sites myself since joining Gamstop (purely to test out whether it worked or not), I have led myself to believe that the system is foolproof and to not bother attemtping to keep trying sign in to other sites. I’m guessing the sites that do let players ‘slip through the net’ will eventually catch them when it comes to possible withdrawals or identidy checks. So I’m taking it as ‘pointless’ to even try to get onto a site. Did this particular site let you deposit/withdraw etc? Were your details the same ones as you used when signing up to Gamstop. E.g did you purposely try to circumvent the system?
DeterminedDan wrote:
Having only tried to sign up to two online sites myself since joining Gamstop (purely to test out whether it worked or not), I have led myself to believe that the system is foolproof and to not bother attemtping to keep trying sign in to other sites. I’m guessing the sites that do let players ‘slip through the net’ will eventually catch them when it comes to possible withdrawals or identidy checks. So I’m taking it as ‘pointless’ to even try to get onto a site. Did this particular site let you deposit/withdraw etc? Were your details the same ones as you used when signing up to Gamstop. E.g did you purposely try to circumvent the system?
That's the way I view the local casino. I'm banned, so if they ID me on payout, I don't get anything. It's helpful, even though the odds are about the same as being a punter...
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