Hi Monica
Just read your post on IDI’s thread about escape gamblers. There is a difference in the two, but do you not think that the addiction can seep its way into all of us. And then once we have it we have it?
There may one day be specialist therapy for escape gamblers but I don’t think GA is specifically geared to helping “action” gamblers.
Regardless of the reasons why we gambled, we do all accept that we are powerless against it AND our lives had become unmanageable because of it. We’ve all ended up spending too much time and money gambling that we just could not afford to.
None of us will ever get back that time or money. Also a bitter pill to swallow but a fact.
The best we can do is make the very best of resources available to us in order to continue our own ongoing recoveries. The amount of support for gambling is becoming more varied and I reckon that CBT might be a great help with some of the issues that lead us to gambling in the first place. But once the addiction is within us I firmly believe that it is for life. Suppose you could find productive ways to deal with the things you felt the need to escape form and you no longer felt the need to escape, do you think it would be wise to discontinue with ongoing support with the addiction?
I believed that learning to talk about things honestly and openly was the be all and end all for me. I still think it’s the most beneficial thing in my recovery for keeping the urge or desire to gamble out of arm’s length. But that alone was never going to be my salvation. It’s a mistake that I made more than once, putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. One big lesson that is proven time and time again on this site, GA, and gam care, is that ongoing support is a must. That’s applicable to all CG’s as far as I can tell.
GA was around helping people with gambling problems long before the experts had decided there were two sorts of gamblers, escape and action. Some experts go on to say there are as many as seven or eight types of gamblers (not all CG’s). I’m not the biggest advocate of GA, for my own pig-headed reasons, but I believe I do encompass the twelve steps in my everyday life. However I do know that it has helped many people break free from the life of an addict. Many of those people that I do personally know would fit the profile of ‘escape gambler’ as you describe it in IDI’s thread.
Good news on GMA. You’re making small steps forward every day Monica, and in general you do sound a lot more positive than a couple of weeks ago.
I don’t believe in any superstitions Monica but I do believe in Fate. Maybe nothing will come of the opportunity that has arisen, but the very fact that an opportunity has presented itself to you must give you some hope.
Your life may not be all singing and dancing at the minute, but could you imagine the absolute chaos you’d be enduring now if you’d been gambling for the last 75 days.
Well done for sticking to your guns.