Young and Dumb

Hi luke
At least youve noticed that you have a problem early and trying to get help just think of your future and take one day at a time
youll get there

Agree with the above...willpower won't do this alone. You need to put block into place immediately (self-exclusion, handing over control of finances) or you will inevitably fall back into old, destructive manner.

Hi luke well done for coming here again your doing the right thing mate , your not dumb you've got a gambling problem and you need help . Your only young you've got you whole life ahead mate and if you stop gambling now your life will be much better trust me I know I've wasted 26 years of my life chasing money and losses it's a nightmare !! Gamcare is a great way to start to recover doing diary's and the chat rooms , also they can get you counselling if you want . I hope you get the help you need. Loz

Day 01

I just have to say thank you to all of the supportive comments! It's amazing how everyone on here comes together and knows exactly what you are going through!

So I'm one day down, I feel like the start is easy because its a new journey and I'm in the right mindset. I feel great though, I'm minimising my time on my computer and being more productive with my time. When I have tried to stop before I have closed my account on my chosen betting website. So I could easily reopen my account and have the same problems all over again! Yesterday I read about self exclusion on gamcare so this morning I logged onto my account and self excluded myself for the maximum period. I couldn't believe how easy it was! The moment which really hit me was when it didn't allow me to log back on to my account unlike the times when I just closed my account. It felt amazing. My main problem is being impatient, I need to learn that this won't all be fixed over night. Visiting gamcare often will help through it.

Luke

Day 02

Firstly, thank you abettertomorrow for you stories and advice. Comments like that are really helping me out and not feel as bad and making me realise that I have made a mistake and I need to move on,

So 2 days have gone and it's been going well, mainly because I don't have a lot of money to gamble with because I lost it to gambling! However after self excluding myself I have start to think to myself "what have you done?!", I've wasted a lot of time and money. How do people get over the amount of money they have lost? I constantly think of my losses.

Luke

Day 17

Okay, so I haven't been updating my diary much but I've been very busy! Which is really good because I haven't been betting! However this morning I had a massive urge! I really wanted to make some money! I wished I never self excluded myself and even went to another betting site and open an account, I deposited £5 but I took some time and chilled out. I reminded myself that you never win, even when you win you get the urge to do more and lose it all. So I didn't place any bets and withdraws end the money, it's been an odd day 17 but I'm still going!

Well done Luke for withdrawing the money, really proud of you! You didnt place the bet and managed to talk yourself out of it so it shows you are really committed to stopping. Little suggestion - you managed to open another site quite easily so try and focus on the triangle - take away either the location, time or money to gamble and you can't. If you have access to a laptop or phone to gamble then maybe think about getting some software blocker on it so that if you get a little urge again it cuts you off even sooner.

Again though, well done on not gambling - marching on to day 18!

Day 21

So today is payday for me, the usual routine for the past year was to wake up early, check I was paid and instantly want more money. So what did I do? Instead of make money I usually lost half of my pay in a few hours.... This was a horrible feeling. However today I have a feeling that I haven't had in a long time! If anyone reading this hasn't self excluded, then do it! It makes trying to stop soon easy! As I don't have the ability to bet, I don't waste my money and life is looking up. When I gambled I felt like nothing was going my way, I'd lose money through gambling and I feel like I had bad luck around me all the time. I feel different.

Well done

Day 37

This is now a personal best and I'm so happy! Although I do miss gambling and I'll be honest about that, but without gambling means less worrying, my health is improving and I'm watching my money go up. When I gambled I learnt and tried to keep day to day living costs down and that's one thing I have learnt to carry on.

Things are going well.

Well done Luke and congratulations on day 37 ! Keep going fella it will get easier ! Best wishes for now .... AL