Happy new year fighters !
Just wanted to check in here to read your ups & downs , and let you know how I am doing.
Since the last time I wrote a post on this forum, I am doing so much better!
I thank myself for taking this gambling addiction seriously and getting help , support and treatment. After a online therapy of 100 days plus 13 sessions behavioural therapy ,and talking with many people, I finally began to understand that I can really live without gambling. I don't need it in my life to be happy or lucky ; I am both without it already !
This forum also helped a lot with realising that the gambling addiction is the same for most of the people on this forum not to forget the family , friends and partners of gamblers. Also attending GA meetings and reading all there is to read about it helped . I also watched YouTube on the subject , there is so much out there still to learn about the matter of gambling addiction (book ' Addiction by design ' was also a real eye opener !)
My sessions were done in November and I felt relief being done with it. Knowing I have to be aware of the false believes luring on weaker days, I am picking up new interest and being kinder to myself. I have the opportunity to pick up the therapy again if needed. My partner complimented me this week with being a much less edgy with emotions now than before and she is so right, I feel more relaxed knowing exactly the mental , physical and financial state I am in.
Fact is you can not hide from the truth, and it is out there waiting for you ! You can deal with it one day at a time and one step at a time.
Give yourself time to make it better and forgive yourself for being a hardhead in misbelieve and misbehaving !
The gambling venues will want you to keep coming back, but every no is a victory on your side . Also I don't count the days I am gamble free because I do believe in one day at the time ; and today I am gamble free with much more days behind me (I've been gambling for over 20 years).
One day is easier to cope with than the other , but give yourself the peace and respect you deserve to make improvements 😉
nice one, i am proud of you as with everyone else on this forum. I am only a little over 2 weeks into not gambling, 30 years a gambler, with the last ten or so the bad ones where i became really addicted,although on reflection i have been an addict from my first time betting as i won £60 ( a weeks wages as an 19 year old lad) and blew that an the rest of my weeks wages by the time i had gone home that afternoon. i recoil with horror and embarrassment as bookies only opened from about 11am to 5pm in those days.
Anyway i digress, 3 weeks and i am proud, everyday i am free i say thankyou also to myself for saving at least £50 a day from staying gamble free. More importantly to my long suffering wife and children, how they are still with me i will never know, i have taken them to the brink of bankruptcy, cleared debts only to sink back close to bankruptcy again and only through the good will of my wife and children they have bailed me out and supported me. Current debts are £75000, secured against the house, last chance saloon for me now, i have given up many times before and made many false promises to family and myself! but this one is real, it is different, i have the support of an astonishing counsellor, a wife and family that i will not let them down again ever!
i keep trying to remain positive, i feel remorse for the past but realise i cannot change it, but i can make the future better. this really is my driving force to keep clean, similar to you i am doing it one day at a time. Keep remaining strong my friend, i look forward to coming back here in three weeks time and reading more good news from you!
We are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can also contact us for free on 0808 80 20 133. If you would like to find out more about the service before you start, including information on confidentiality, please click below. Call recordings and chat transcripts are saved for 28 days for quality assurance.
