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hi Lavende,
28, all your life still ahead of you,
you can win this fight, just you need to understand it, and plan your way out of it.happy for you,
you have a good start, for me normally I need 2 to 3 weeks to be a functional human being and to start tackling my problems.Hi Raisingphonix,
congratulation on your 285 days, only 36% percent can make it to one year, and I am sure you will be one of them.
you made it to 285 days, so you know what it needs to stay free of gambling and you are doing it really well.hi losingitslowly,
don’t beat yourself up for this relapse, it really something from the past and you just need to learn from it, we can’t change the past.
frankly, I was afraid you will relapse, after reading your post few days a ago, you wrote that your daughter is going on a trip for a few days and you were expecting some hard time fighting the urges during her absence. this is the point that you need to focus on what you could have done to prevent yourself from gambling knowing that you are going to face a situation that will trigger a lot of gambling urges.a few days ago I find some patterns in my records when I write something like “thankfully today I had a huge urge to gamble but I overcome them” I found myself relapsing the next day or maximum within a week period.
relapse is not coming out of the blue, there are some signs that we can detect before the relapse happened,
it is like we have a certain threshold after which we break, a period between having the money+ the access to the gambling sites+ and the free time to gamble once all these 3 prerequisites are there it is just a matter of time, it is a question for how long we can withstand the urges pressure, from reading my records some times one day some times one week, the inevitable relapse will happen.
once this resisting period starts I think there is no way back, “at least for me” so this time I am taking extra measures to avoid reaching this high urges pre-relapse period.I wrote this in reply to Don a few days ago and I feel it is worth repeating it here:
“I am quite convinced now with what I am reading about gambling and our brain, it is like we have two distinct ways of thinking. System 1 is automatic, quick, and involuntary. System 2 is effortful, slower, and deliberate.
gambling comes from system 1 and trying to stop gambling comes from system 2. both are in there in my brain, both are me”it is like having two persons inside your head, one of them convinced that gambling is wrong and trying to prevent you from doing it, and the other convinced gambling is a way to make money.
and you have to help the rational part in you in his fight against the irrational part.regarding CBT, I read a book discussing the current treatments for compulsive gamblers, and it looks like MI is the best Motivational interviewing therapy,
below is a link to the type of therapy that mixes both CBT and MI. which looks like the best approach for the gambler, unfortunately in my case I have ruined myself financially so I can’t afford the cost of therapy, but if you can, why not. it will help.Hi Gustav,
reading your post is like reading a story about myself, I am a compulsive gambler and my addiction is to day trade forex, crypto, and stock.
I need to write more but frankly, I took 2 sleeping pills and it start working, I suggest you read my journal you can relate for sure. and you can learn from the relapses that I had.honestly from your post, I am not sure where you stand:
do you still think that you can win money trading? please answer honestly, do you think what you need is to stick to your strategy, to your money management plan and that will give you better odds to win?
have you tried to stop gambling? I mean have you done anything to stop it, or it is just thoughts?Hi Zack,
actually, Charles is right you have to ask your doctor about it.
and I think I am too have undiagnosed ADHD, to be honest, I don’t know if it is one of the reasons why I get hooked on this gambling addiction or if it is the other way around.recently I am reading more books about gambling treatment, and I read your post I remembered a paragraph about it in “Treating Gambling Problems” by (William G. McCown, William A. Howatt).
I will put the paragraph down for your information, finally, your doctor should give you the correct answer.”
Of special note is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). People
with ADHD are much more likely to have gambling problems. Clinicians tend
to avoid stimulants for the treatment of ADHD in gamblers, because many gamblers
have another addictive disorder. However, evidence from cocaine addiction
suggests that the pharmacological treatment of ADHD does not cause
relapse. In fact, aggressive treatment may reduce illicit drug use.
Excluding cigarette smoking, concurrent substance abuse problems are common
in as many as 50 percent of people with gambling problems, either presently
or by history. It makes little sense to treat only the most serious problem and not
treat the coexisting addictive disorder. All addictive disorders warrant treatment
simultaneously, regardless of whether there are conflicting bureaucracies
involved!”and
”
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and problem or pathological gambling
often appear together, though no one knows why for sure (Petry, 2005b).
There is no evidence that treatment with stimulant medication, such as Ritalin,
is associated with relapse. On the contrary, evidence from AOD studies suggests
that proper treatment of ADHD may help clients to experience fewer relapses
“