I’m glad you found this site and you’ve decided to stop gambling. It isn’t easy but it can be done. You will recover from the debts in time as long as you stop gambling.
Barriers, barriers!!! Closing down your online gambling account was the first wise move.
Keep posting! Things will become better as you put more gamble free time behind you.

Just think it’s just money. You have beautiful children and they will help you get through this.

I too started gambling in April and stopped on 9th May. Lost a lot of money but luckily the money wasn’t borrowed. I still feel like crap that I could have used that money to save for my baby (she’s 6 months now)

What consoles me is that I’m still young and strong and can earn that money back with time. I can make it up to my family and child. So can you.

Eyes to the horizon and you will get back what you lost. No looking back 🙂

Hello and thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy forums

Here at Gambling Therapy we pride ourselves on being a caring and diverse online community who can help and support you with the difficulties you’re currently facing. We understand that this might be a tough time for you, particularly if you’re new to recovery, so come here as often as you need to and participate in the forums, access online groups and connect to the live advice helpline if you need one to one support. We’re in this together!

Here on the forum you can share your experiences in a safe, supportive and accepting environment. The beauty of writing it all down is that you can take your time and you will be creating a record of your progress that you can look back on if it ever feels like you’re not moving forward. So, share as much or as little as you like but do try to stick to keeping just one thread in this forum so people know where to find you if they want to be updated on your progress or share something with you.

As well as the forums New Members are invited to join Charles in the New Members Practical Advice Group On Mondays at 21:00 (UK) and Thursday at 19:00(UK)

And on that note….

I’m going to hand you over to our community because I’m sure they will have some words of wisdom for you 🙂

Take care

The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!

well done for paying that cash in.

im the same, show me how much I spent online gambling in cash, I’d not touch it. As soon as it’s on my online account and I’m depositing into the online account , the digits become almost valueless and I can go as far as £500+ a spin. ( and I did) 

horrible. Destructive, wasteful and disrespectful to my and my husbands hard work.

NEVER AGAIN!!!

You have a choice in how you think about things. You can choose to look back and see how things have messed up – or you can choose to look forward to a gambling free life.

I know it is not easy – but the past is done with and cannot be changed, it may feel like a nightmare but in reality you are here and now surviving and it is just your thoughts that are pulling you down. So change them. If you are finding that hard to do – talk to someone and if you are seriously finding hard to go on – talk to a help-line (Samaritans if you are in the UK) or your GP.

You are young with a family to enjoy over the years. Focus on looking after them (not forgetting yourself) and working on your recovery by writing here and / or on chat. Take care of yourself – you are important.

Dear HABD;
I guess that I am fortunate (ha ha) to have made some doozies in my past. I have made a mess of my finances due to gambling and it may prevent me from early retirement as I had hoped, but it will get better. It will get better for you too. You will find a way out and feel the satisfaction of doing it yourself. So many people in the u.s. lost everything with the real estate crash in the mid 2008 period and they made their way back by starting over. Start over. Don’t live in the past. Make this a new beginning and the vision may be better. Looking back keeps/gambling fresh in your mind so forget it all and move on like it never happened. Debt is debt. Doesnt matter why you have it just know that 80% of us do

Hi Hada
Just catching up on your Thread.
I so get what u mean about being safe with cash .
We are forever being advised not to take cash out with us when in truth we couldn’t do too much damage even if we did but a few scratch cards .
Nothing quite compares to online gambling – the speed , the amount you can bet , the amount you can win and how quickly you can lose .
I haven’t cashed out in years no matter how much I won.
Sometimes I wonder should we just lift all our money out of the bank and go back to old fashioned bill paying in person at the bank. I would be so much richer if I did .

Well done on the great start you have made to your recovery – the debts will soon go down !
Hope to catch u in chat soon.

Idi I agree, if I had the cash I think my gambling just wouldnt happen. Love the idea of going back to good old fashioned paying bills at the bank for everything!

I have an allergy to raspberries.

I really like them – they are delicious and juicy and sweet. When I eat them I really enjoy the experience. Then I get ill, have stomach pain, can’t sleep at night for the gut ache. Have even been in hospital a couple of times.

I can’t eat raspberries. I see others enjoying them and I am jealous. I would love to go back to them but have now decided I can never eat them again. In the grand scheme of things doing without raspberries is pretty minor.

So is doing without slots.

I’m tempted to say that since I gave up raspberries, I have had lots of ads to eat them – but that just wouldn’t be true.

It is just the marketing of the gambling industry trying to bring you back into their clutches. Difficult I know. If you can look at other things on line – your ad choices will fall in line eventually.

Until then I hope you can keep strong and keep posting.

Hey,

I to have just recently give the slots and I like yourself have emails with free spins and keep whatever you win blah blah. I’ve been addicted to slot machines for 41 years and I thought about playing the free spins, even playing the free version on play money, but I’ve resisted.
The next time you get the urge, try writing about it instead. Time goes quickly when you are typing away and I always get that sense of pride when I beat the urge and feel comfort when I read back what I wrote to. I started a journal, two in fact. One on here and the other in my notes a bit more personal. They have gotten so big since my day 1 of slot free and now I’m on day 35 ish. Give it a try and the best of luck on your new journey.

Plaza

Hang in there! There are underlying reasons that we gamble. From my experience, when we deal with these issues, we can deal more clearly with the gambling addiction.
I’m very sorry that you are in a abusive relationship. We all need some kind of support. Maybe you could rethink gamblers anon.
Remember to take care of yourself. Any act of self care is essential.
3 years will go by fast in your debt repayment. Just don’t add to that debt!
You are not alone. Please keep posting.

It does sound if there is a lot going on for you and that the gambling was a way of letting off some steam. It is how our brains get wired when we have been gambling for a while – so you are not pathetic or useless at all.

Now that your partner is no longer at the family home – does this leave you space to get some support? If you are in the UK you may be eligible for counselling support through Gamcare – https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/our-treatment-offer/ or talk to your GP or local women’s aid for help with some of the other areas of your life. You can of course use the 1-2-1 here.

The important thing now is to put a full-stop behind the £1500 you have lost and not to try and chase your losses. Also not to think that because you have now gambled again – you may as well continue … these are all tricks that our “gambling mind” will try and tease us with. You went for several weeks without gambling so you know you can do it – just put the same barriers in place – each and every day. Please get support. I wish you well.

Relapsing is part of the recovery.

Try to identify the trigger and be confident that a bright future without gamling is coming.

All the best!

DON’T FALL FOR THAT TRICK AGAIN. The easiest way to get you playing is to get you to the site and give you a little taste. Its like drugs to an addict or alcohol to an alcoholic. Can’t have just a little bit. You need more help than you’ve allowed yourself so put gamban on your devices. You can get free trials if you dont have credit cards that you can use, then buy some prepaid cards later when the trial period runs out and make it more permanent. I had a computer (which I broke on purpose to try to break the cycle) but then went to my phone. Got gamban on that then started on my daughters computer. Got gamban on that. Then started on the iPad. Got gamban on that now and have had 11 free days. I will need to purchase the gamban for a year soon and I will do it using a prepaid since I dont have any credit  cards anymore to use. Even If the trial is only for two weeks it will give you time to heal and gather some strength. Two weeks without it still a good marker to start from, and when go  to your device after two weeks free, you will be in a better position to install it permanently. We all fall, lord knows we have the best of intentions. Just pick yourself up and start again. No great journey has ever been achieved without stops and starts. You’ve started, stopped, now just start again trying to go a little further this time. I will try too.

The reason we keep doing it is because of the way our brains are wired.  Once we get a taste for gambling it is almost impossible to stop.  The gambling sellers know this – that is why they tempt you with free spins and credits in your account. 

Again – having relapses is something that we all go through – the thing is to be persistent in your recovery. Use all the techniques for stopping – blockers, not using cards and getting support from others.

You have said in previous posts that you enjoy slots – so instead allow yourself to enjoy something else.  What would you like to be doing (that does not invove gambling) perhaps something you have never done before – and make plans to do it.  Anything from salmon fishing to taking a helicopter ride.  I don’t know what it is for you.  But believe me there are other things that can give you a high – a safe non addictive high. Find what it is for you and start taking small steps.  I wish you well.

Just wanted to coin the phrase that tempts so many others. The odds are against you but I will cross my fingers. As far as your cards go, do you really need them all of the time? I decided that I didnt trust myself enough when I had them do I reported them all missing and told them not to send any to me until I was sure that they were gone. I gave only one that I cant use online. Put all of the stops in place that you can. I, too  used to think that I could do it without help and once I started cancelling cards and using gamban it got a lot easier. I know that in the back of your mind you are not doing these things because THEN YOU CANT GAMBLE . It’s hard to face until you give yourself some time and space. Just do whatever you must to limit yourself. You have to do it. Read the posts from others. Once you limit yourself and you cant, it gets easier.