[dzanko96]

Hello to everyone. I am new to this gambling forum and I have never tried any form of gambling therapy before so I hope this will help me get everything in order with my life. I have been gambling with a couple of bigger pauses for about the last 5-6 years. First trigger was a breakup with my girlfriend after 3 years of our relationship. I was in a lot of mental pain and did not know what to do with myself so I discovered gambling numbed my “bad feelings”. Couple months later I got back together with my girlfriend and I thought my gambling is in control because I had enough money for everything we needed. At the time I was still in college and living with my parents so I did not need to take care of any bigger financial matters except the things I wanted for myself. Very soon I cleaned out my bank account for the first time gambling. It was not a large amount of money but at the time it was all I had. My girlfriend and I had a big fight and I felt extremely ashamed. We decided we would not tell my parents and she helped me get through it that time. In about 6 months I did the same thing again but she helped me that time also so I again thought everything is going to be fine. The third time was about a year after the second and this was the first time I gambled a larger amount of money. I was trying to hide it as long as i could but of course my girlfriend caught me again because I had no money left. This time I told everything to my parents and I felt the worst as I ever felt in my life. Luckily they all wanted to help me get through it and my girlfriend told me I should probably seek some sort of therapy. Unfortunately, I did not do it that time. I preocupied myself with playing sports, video games and finishing college in the next 2 years so I thought I was finnaly clean. I even had some stressful and unfortunate events because I could not get a job and even then I did not gamble. At the start of this year my mother got very sick in a short period of time and passed away. I never felt this amount of stress and anxiety before in my life so I started to gamble for the first time in 2 years. It started very gradually but got worse and worse during these 6 months. I still had enough of money from my grandfathers and mothers inheritance so I decided to propose to my girlfriend. I gambled 3-4 thousand euros which is a large amount of money in my country. I saw that I will probably gamble everything away so I decided to confess everything for the first time before someone catches me again. When I confessed my fiancee wanted to breakup everything with me but things settled down during the last few weeks. I started working 3 weeks ago and I did not have any thoughts about gambling since then. I installed anti-gambling software on my mobile phone and computer to remind me that I have a problem and block me from gambling. I am seeking some practical advice how to keep myself from gambling next time a bad thing happens in my life because something bad always does happen. I appreciate your time in reading this post and I hope this will help me and others from gambling in the future.

[Dunc]

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!

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