Hi Aidan
The support of your family is fantastic – if they are prepared to listen then please try and tell them how you feel because they cannot understand without being given information. It is easy to get uptight with families but if you have listening ears then use them calmly.
Your family are more than welcome to use the F&F forum on this site and/or the F&F group on Thursdays between 20.00-2100 hours UK time (8-9pm). The privacy of the group is often preferable to families and we do have mothers popping in most weeks.
I am sure that if your friends are good friends they will applaud what you are doing, the addiction to gamble is very secretive and so most people are unaware that such a problem exists – I enabled my CG for 25 years because I didn’t understand what was wrong. I talk about it now and it is amazing who is prepared to show an interest and even some who know someone they are worried about. Purely by accident I have helped friends who were not seeking help because they didn’t know what help they needed.
I am glad you are using the waiting time usefully – starting the project with some gamble-free time behind you does help. If you struggle at all though between now and when you go in don’t worry because that is quite usual.
I’m not sure how you cover up the hole with your job and I cannot tell you what to do because lying is not conducive to recovery – maybe you should take the bull by the horns but as I say I cannot tell you what to do.
Keep posting
Velvet
