Hi Coaster and welcome to GT.
You asked on C-Noel’s thread how you could control your thoughts. In my experience, thoughts come and go and we have little or no control of how and when a particular thought will pop up. How we react to these gambling thoughts is what leads a CG to either total destruction or recovery. For a compulsive gambler there is no middle road. Once we cross the line into compulsive gambling, we can never gamble normally again. I think this is the stumbling block for many gamblers. For years I dipped in and out of recovery. I would abstain for weeks, months-even made it to a year once, but I always went back . Why? Because I thought I could gamble normally. My plan was to “play for a while and leave when I’m winning” . Many years and many thousands of lost pounds later, I discovered that a CG never wins. I believe when we come to realise this FACT, we will give up trying (gambling). I also realised that my need to gamble was becoming far greater than my need to win and know now that if I ever go back to that lonely place, it will be for the buzz, not for the money.
Have you ever tried GA? (Gamblers Anonymous)
At GA meetings you will hear many success stories. You will also look into the eyes of other broken people who , one day at a time succeed in putting gambling to the back of their minds, while they live their lives, free from the torment and misery gambling brings. My poison is slot machines but most of the GA guys are “bookie/sports ” gamblers. I hear them describing how they no longer talk about racing, no longer read the racing pages on newspapers etc. This may be something you will have to do . CGs have to go to extreme measures to stop gambling controlling our lives. Not carrying cash or cards, not having gambling conversations, not daydreaming and planning the next bet are some of the ways which will help us to break the habit and prevent the cycle from becoming a never ending part of our lives.
Best wishes in recovery.
