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Hi Ryan, I’m glad your family is supporting you and have recognized the changes in you. It sounds like they are very concerned. It’s good that you have come here for support. There are a lot of people that have the same issues with sports betting and hopefully you will all be able to support one another. It sounds like you are already taking very important steps to tackle your problem. Closing aps and excluding are great steps. Installing a gambling blocker can also be a good barrier. No matter what we just keep trying to beat this. If at first you don’t succeed, take it another step further. Have a family member handle your finances, cut up credit cards. Whatever it takes. It can be done. Good job on coming here.
take care,
LauraHi David,
well done on recognizing you have a problem. You need to protect your money from yourself! Is there anyway you can have your salary paid into an account you can’t use for gambling? Could you talk to your wife about your problem? Maybe she could help with the family finances so that you can’t spend all the money on gambling? I would suggest buying a gambling software blocker but not sure if due to your expertise you would be able to get around it? Or do you gamble in casinos? maybe you can ban?
Please tell us a little more and maybe we could offer you more specific advise or suggestions.
take care,
LauraHi Brucey and welcome to the forum. I see there are several other new members who have joined who indicate they have sport betting issues and are also around your age. Perhaps you guys can offer support to each other to make it through the urges. Counseling is a very good idea and I’m glad to see that you recognize the link between escape gambling and past issues. Most CG’s are very smart people. We have been hooked by an addiction and need to take some tough steps to protect ourselves. Well done on the steps you have taken! Hope to see your posts in the future.
take care,
LauraGood morning IDI,
Your focus is where it needs to be. On you! Rest is tremendously important! Hopefully GT can put on a few early evening groups instead of all these ones that are on in the middle of the night! I spent yesterday having scans and tests. Meet with the surgeon today. A little shopping before we go. I’ve been dealing with more pain but managing. Warmth and sunshine is good. Having a good gamble free life 🙂 Watch out for the one month urges! Can be tough but I know you will get through. It’s our choice! I feel like I should be shaking pom poms lol rah rah go go. Thinking about you. Laura
Hey guy (don’t feel comfortable calling you a doofus!) welcome to the forum. We all feel like a doofus, and often much worse because of this addiction. This addiction can drive us to very dark places! I’m glad to see you trying to get a handle on this at such a young age. So many of us here have wasted years and decades gambling. Closing down your accounts is a good step. Putting in place barriers so that you don’t have access to gamble, finding new things to do to fill your time, working out, walking, running, volunteering, join a social club, etc. can help. Some sort of accountability can also help tremendously. I had a family member that I trusted help me with my money so that i wasn’t allowed total unaccountable access. Use the support you will get here from other members. They may have some specific advice for you re sports also. Take care and welcome to the Forum.
Good to see your feeling upbeat Micky. We just have to keep at it and we will get there! Build the barriers higher and the accountability stronger. Even accountability to our group of friends here at GT can be a help. I know there have been times where I thought of everyone here and said nope, not dissapointing my friends! All the best Micky! Im travelling right now but will try and check in on you. Hope you are having a good day! Laura
Hi Menez,
welcome to the Forum. You say that your family already knows. One of the things that helped me in the beginning was not handling any large amount of money. I had to provide receipts for anything i purchased (small items or even a few groceries). Can you ask someone to take responsibility for your money? So you do not have access to it for gambling? Have you looked into attending some sort of counseling? Quite often regrets and past events or traumas can contribute to our desire to escape into gambling. Can you put software blocker on your phone and computer so that you can’t place bets? These are some ideas you can think of. If what you try at first doesn’t succeed, then try and build barriers higher. Work on your happiness as well. Also, watching sports is probably a big trigger right now. You may have to give that up for a while and try and find other hobbies. You can do this. And your life will be so much better for it. Take care and welcome to the forum.
Laura
Dear Giorgio,
I hear the pain in your post that this addiction causes. It is an addiction. And it feels like we cannot help ourselves. Sometimes we have to take drastic measures to stop this addiction. I gambled in many local venues. In my country you cannot ban from these places!! In the end I chose to tell my family of my problem so they could help me with my money. In the beginning I would provide receipts for any money that was given to me. I did that for a whole year! Over time I felt back to my normal self and was able to take care of my own money. I also went to gambler anonymous meetings for support. And seen a gambling addictions counsellor.
I know telling your parents is a scary thought. We feel shame at what we have done. Guilt for the money and opportunities we have wasted. But you can come back from this. Within a few weeks of not gambling your mind will start to clear. It started as fun but now it can be life theatening. If your parents though this might drive you to a dark place, they would tell you, let us know. They may be dissapointed and upset. But parents almost always just want whats best for their children.
Try the chat groups here or talk to the help line. I know they will have more advice for you as well. Take care, Laura
Ive been thinking of you as well and wondering how things are going. i have my own meeting with a surgeon today. We’ll see if they think they can put this humpty dumpty back together again. Hope you are well. take care, Laura
Hey Liz, have a great day at orientation. I always have a guilty conscience. Doesn’t really matter if I did anything wrong or not! But you can retrain yourself to know, you have to put yourself first or you can’t be of support to anyone else. As your quote above shows us. Really very happy and proud of you Liz. You have tackled a lot lately. Really, banning, did some counselling, standing up for yourself more with your mom, dealing with debts and got a job! Awesome work! Epsom salts have magnesium in them which is really good for muscles. It is also one of the building blocks of our bodies. Each and every cell needs it to function. So enjoy your epsom salt bath!
Laura
This addiction always leaves us feeling a bit of an idiot after going back for some more punishment. Put in place a mental ban. If you think of it, just remember, you don’t gamble anymore. That being said, I truly feel barriers and being honest with someone who can help keep you accountable are a huge help. We are addicted after all. Makes it hard to say no to our self. Keep working at it! The alternative is unthinkable. Laura
Hello Little Lady,
I am hoping that you are still here reading and looking into getting help. So often people post and then within a couple days the feelings fade and they are back in action. Have you thought about putting in place any of the barriers suggested above? How are you doing? Please take care, Laura
welcome to the forum TTA. So many words of wisdom that you are sharing. I found my emotions could easily swing when dealing with the fall out of my addiction. But the general trend was moving forward. And over time I could look back and say wow, look what I have overcome. It made me a stronger person and a better person I believe. We can’t change our gambling past. But we can build a good gambling free future. Take care, Laura
Hi JK, well done on another week of not gambling and normality. I hope you don’t mind me commenting on your above post. I agree that a mental BAN ( I don’t gamble anymore ) is a very important part of recovery. But i also feel that for a lot of people it takes barriers to break the cycle. Many have tried the will power thing and failed many many times creating so much destruction. I wanted those barriers as I was afraid of myself, and wanted a just in case safety net. True, I probably could have figured out a way to gamble a small amount once I was gamble free for a year or two, but I didn’t want to. My early barriers were pretty rock solid. The good thing is that people can come here and read about what worked for different people. There are some that can’t put barriers in place and there only options are to make it a little more difficult and to put in place a mental ban. It is good that they see it can be done too. Take care,
Laura