Hi there,
I really feel your pain – I’ve been gamble free for a few weeks now and charting my emotional state, I’m actually happier now than I have been in a really long time. The effects on your wellbeing are incredibly powerful with just a few weeks off.
I always found that being alone – especially feeling bored or depressed is the weakest position to be in to resist the urge to gamble.
The only advice I can give you is what worked for me;
I made a plan, spanning over the next 12 months – mostly financial but partly other stuff – so at the end of that plan, I’ll have slashed my debt / saved some money and improved at some of my hobbies (eg/ martial arts) to a good degree..
Once the plan is in place – If I have a compulsion to gamble I will try to think “I don’t NEED to gamble – the plan will sort everything”
I know that gambling will prevent the plan from happening – even if I win, because winning means more gambling which means losing – it’s never enough.
I use an app called wayoflife – which allows me to input my progress on anything every day. This means that I am on track for my master plan on a DAILY level, and that the plan can be pushed back or broken by just ONE day of breaking that chain.
This is a very powerful motivator – but it’s very hard at first.. it gets much easier after about 4 days or so – so hang in there if you try it.
The next step is to think about a year – it’s a long time but it’s also NOT a long time, depending on your mindset.. when you are giving something up time seems to move by so slowly, a day without gambling feels like a week.. But think of something you’ve done that’s lasted years, 1 year – if you can just relax and stick to your plan – is not a long time 🙂