[mrdextro]

Hi there, this is the first time I’ve reached out in a public sphere to share my problem with online gambling and what has happened over the past year I started gambling. For most of my life I wouldn’t ever step foot into a casino or even consider online gambling, but last year I found a site that lured me in with promos and flashy games, from there my gambling continues in spats, a few hundred here and there, I won some but ended up at a big loss. I’ve signed up and closed so many gaming acocunts over the past year, when I lose I get ashamed and request self-exclusion, but there’s thousands of sites and I can easily come across another one. The other day I spent a few hundred dollars in a gambling site then won $20,000, I was so happy, and requested a withdrawal, but then I was told I had to verify my identity before the withdrawal could proceed, unfortunately at this time, the temptation to play more and try to win more became great, I first withdrew $1000, then more, then the whole balance, before I knew it, many hours passed and I ended up down to zero. It still hurts me to admit this, the fact that my addiction couldn’t even let me be patient and wait for the withdrawal to occur. Excluding that win, I probably spent about $3000 on online gambling over the past year, it has eaten in to my savings which I worked hard to put away. Now I am back at square one, I have self-excluded from that website, and I just don’t want to gamble again. I’ve tried hiding my savings account away on a separate site to avoid touching it. I’ve been battling this all on my own and it has begun to impact the rest of my life, I can’t get the fact I gambled away that money out of my head but I also can’t get online slots out of my head too. I’m trying to distract myself with other tasks, but I find my work and personal life to be extremely boring and lonesome. As a man pushing 40, I should know better and I keep telling myself to stop stop stop! Now I know the pain of this addiction, and I can definitely empathize far more with those who are going through similar situations. I always told myself I didn’t have an addictive personality, and I would never be like that, but I fell into the addiction without even realizing it until it was too late.

[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.

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!

[logan]

Hi
I feel the same. You are not alone. Try to focus on not gambling for a day. Just make it through one day. Then it gets easier to go to the next day and the next ect… really try not to get stuck with the big win losses, just think if you make it through a day without gambling then you win.
I hope it helps

[urgetospin]

Glad you are staying bet free. Keep it up ! I’m thinking of going to a meeting to address my concerns (mine is a bit complicated by poker and online slots)

[Author]

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