[sorinho13]

Hello everybody. My name is Gabriel and I am familiar with gambling since 2012. From that year until now I played online or offline with various games from sport bets to casino sloths, blackjack, poker. It was all just for fun. In 2015 I was diagnosed with leukemia and there was the time when my problems started. I didn’t tell anyone about my diagnosis, I wanted to face it alone, but I knew so little. By that time I was 21 years old. In the moment I went and told that I’m sick to my employer he kicked me out. I was on trial. So I continued to face my destiny by myself. But the treatment was expensive. More expensive that I ever imagined. So I needed money and I needed fast. And that was the point when I realized that I can try with this hobby(gambling). Fortunately I was brainy enough to play smart and pay my treatment for 6 months until the signs of leukemia dissappeared. But little I realized that I became addicted. I started losing money, I stopped getting out etc. That was the point I decided that I have to stop. I had closed all my accounts and began my therapy. I stopped for gambling for good. Or at least that was what I thought. This year in march the company where I am employed faced some financial difficulties so they decided to delay the salary payments. Once again my financial problems where back. I could not find any other method to get money (it was lockdown so I could not find any other job or something ). I started again. I did not have the same success. Was winning but the money were getting back because this time I couldn’t control my impulse to stay low on bets while on losing streaks, so I was raising the bets to cover my losses. I think in 3 months I lost about 200$. The real problem was me betting secretly,and hiding my problem. Today my girlfriend saw my account. Saw the payment to and from the casinos and she was mad (I deserve it). But that moment when she forced me to admit what I was doing, I realized that my addiction is back. So I am waiting for some advices from you guys. Thanks for reading my full story

[Steev]

First of all well done in keeping well. I trust your leukemia treatment has been successful and you are keeping well.

Secondly – it seems that you managed to stop gambling for several years – so that is encouraging. If you can do that once you can do that again.

Thirdly – you recognise that you have a gambling problem and the solution is not to gamble – ever! Not so hard to do. Life doesn’t stop because you are not gambling, just like you looked after yourself with you illness and didn’t do some things – so not gambling will keep you well, mentally as well as financially.

As your girlfriend has “found out” about your gambling, I wonder if you can get her involved in your recovery. One of the things you need to do is lose access to finance. If your girlfriend can take over your finances for a while until you feel stronger – this will make things easier for you. You also need to lose access to the places where you gambler (info on internet site blockers etc are elsewhere on this site) and you can ask to be barred from physical gambling locations.
If you can attend one of the facilitated groups on Mondays and Thursdays here, you will get more information and support … I wish you well.

[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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