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Welcome . The first step is you have joined this amazing forum with lots of similar people with similar stories just like yours and mine in which you can relate to and know you are not alone. First let me start off by saying I am very sorry for the loss of your mother. I can see how this sent you into a spiral as usually every compulsive gambler gets deep into the vortex of gambling when a traumatic life issue takes place, it’s an outlet for us to escape our emotions while we are gambling, only to actually have that plan backfire on us when we lose our Money and then when we leave there now we have one more problem to deal with. I am all too familiar with chasing losses and let me tell you it does not work. I have actually recouped my losses 3-4 times up in the high thousands. Just to convince my brain that I am back at even. Let’s try to be smarter with gambling this time, only to lose it all again, and more of my own, and then here comes using the banks money to try to recoup the losses. I will never forget going on a 20-30 binge losing streak chasing a small loss that turned into a mountain of debt.. it’s like a nightmare in front of our very eyes we ask ourselves how in the world did it come to this. The good news is you can stop now and not dig that debt deeper. Sounds like you have a supportive husband who will be there for you. Have you tried G.A.? One on one councilling? It really helped me try to dig at the root of why I gambled so heavily. And it is an eye opener to hear and see other people’s stories just like yours and mine. It’s hard for someone who has never experienced a gambling addiction or an addiction of any kind to truly understand just how brutal this is for us… that’s why it’s nice to have people here and at ga to relate to. Like I said- you are not alone and you can live a gamble free life again, it is 100% possible. And I am not going to lie to you and tell you it will be easy. There may be relapses, there may be failures in your recovery like there was in mine, but those relapses and failures are all part of the process , so please be gentle on yourself. I was once told you can quit , but you got to really want it bad, you got to want it so bad that you do everything in your power to stop.(hand over access of your finances to your husband, attend weekly GA. And one on one counselling, I’ve recently found counselling covered by social services since I have no money to pay for it due to gambling and mounted debt. Ban yourself from all online and land based casinos *right now*! , tell your husband you will do anything to quit this evil disease, show him the steps you will take to stop! ) i promise you it gets easier as the gamble free days add up, even though it seems like things will never turn around. There is hope, for all of us. Keep posting here, all of your thoughts and emotions , it truly helps even if sometimes it seems like it’s pointless. In the end, you will look back on this storm you made it out and saw the light. I’m rooting for you ! You can do this.
This message means so much to me. I really do try my best to give people the help and advice that was given to me, and if I can help anyone in the slightest way to beat this addiction, that means more than anything to me. I just feel like it’s so hard to talk to people in real life about it, people that haven’t experienced it, even professional councillors that haven’t experienced gambling addiction, they just went to school to study the brain and addiction. I find real life experience to be a better teacher. i Have been at rock bottom with this demon too many times to c ount and I want to be the proof that it’s never to late to get your life back to what it was before gambling, because we all seem to forget what that life is like when we’re in action. I’m so appreciative of your message and kind words and I want you to know the feeling is mutual. You are a kind soul who goes out of her way to help others – and not even having met you I can say you’ve helped me more than people in my real life who I’ve known for 15+ years who just didn’t understand what gambling addiction was, the type of people that tell you, “well, just stop gambling” I wish it was that easy and you know it takes a lot of hard work to stop, but once your brain is shifted to abstinence I feel like there’s a point where you legitimately will never gamble again. And I truly believe that’s where we are right now.
take care my friend.
keep on fighting the good fight!
god bless
I can try to put into words how proud I am of you for overcoming this , but I truly can’t find the words. I just want you to know how amazing of a person you are and that you deserve nothing but happiness In life. I am so happy for your pregnancy, and obviously how you and your husband are clearly doing very well and he has forgiven you and you have forgiven yourself of this bad addiction. There is nothing more than I wanted to see than you come out on top, and persevere through the storm that we were in. It’s a distant memory and like you said, feels like it was in a past life. So I can try to thank you for being there for me, but there are no words to describe how much you helped me through my journey, even if at times you felt your words weren’t getting through to me during my many relapses, it all helped me become who I am on this very day, which is 2 months gamble free. I was so happy reading your positive update today, and I am right there with you. So many times I would come on here and tell you I had relapsed, or read you had, and it broke me inside, it’s so nice to see we are both on the path of a gamble free, happy life. Take Care my friend.
im wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy New Years. Do let me know the gender when you find out.
love always,
your friend Stephen
What your YouTube channel is when you start it man, I’ll be sure to watch your videos ! and never worry about doing something to make money, do something that will help people and change Peoples lives, Money comes along with that usually.
Np brother. I know exactly how you are feeling. when you get a chance I want you to go to page 2 and read the post that says “my story and journey” by igor1984. It was by far the craziest story I’ve read on here in a long time and really shows you just how deep this addiction can take us. This addiction Is truly a bottomless pit. Just when you think you hit rock bottom, gambling will show you a bottom you never even knew existed. Like my friend in here vera said. “Every bottom has a trap door”
we must stop before it gets worse.
rooting for you , man.
Your story seems to familiar to mine and I’m sure many others in here and I can relate to everything in your post. Vegas was my downfall and chasing losses got me in the hole. Started a business and failed because of my partying and gambling habits, all money would go to partying and gambling. I relapsed many times along the way , in Vegas my relapses were the worst, and then I would chase when I got back home and put myself deeper in debt. Lost gf of 5 years, lost another gf of 6 months. Lost my business, had to move back in with parents at 30. I can relate to everything you have wrote , of course my numbers were a lot smaller than yours but that is irrelevant , we have all felt the same pain, anger, disparity, hopelessness, mental anguish, sleepless nights, underperformance at work, broken relationships, lied, stolen, all to fuel this demon called gambling, the good news is there is hope and you have come to the right place. We are all here for you . I was told time after time on here if I want to quit, I really want to WANT IT BAD. People told me I was to be as addicted to my recovery as I was to gambling. I tried so hard, relapsing time and time again, chases losses, got them back, reset, just to lose them all again , over and over.. each time going deeper into debt. There is only so much pain we can take before we have had enough. Have you tried G.A. or one on one councilling. I find this to have helped me , but to each their own. The good news is that you are an entrepreneur, you know business. You know how to make $. You also know the casino is a business also that will ALWAYS, I repeat always win in the end. The wins are what messed us up because it was basically a loan from the casino to get us on cloud 9 thinking we can do that over and over to become rich. It’s false hope . The wins are worse than the losses, because once we lose the winnings, here comes the chase to get those back… and we will do whatever it takes like use the banks money which is not even ours. The casino has an unlimited bankroll vs our tiny bankroll.. the casino is not scared to lose anything, but we are. The casino will always have advantage, no matter how clever we think we are and how many times we win, we will always eventually lose in the end. I believe in you to stop, and by the sounds of it you are and will be successful in recovering from this with your business background. If you stop now, you will recoup you’re losses, you will get your peace of mind back, but this will take time and patience, and a lot of perseverance. It does get better, it will take work, but you can do this. We are all here for you and all have similar stories, you are not alone. Keep pushing forward and keep posting. It will help keep you accountable and will help let your emotions out to people who understand what you are going through. Take care my friend.
Good to hear your updates brother. I can relate to so much of the situation you’re in and the pain gambling has caused you so whenever I read your posts they truly speak to me I just want you to know that I’m not coming on here to give you any sort of words that aren’t truly genuine my man. You are taking all the necessary steps in order to get not only your fincances corrected, but your mental health and lifestyle corrected also. you didn’t lose all of that money overnight, in a week, a month.. let Me say we… we didn’t lose it in a day, a week, a month. It has been a Gradual build up of this addiction and just like it took a long time to lose not only the money but ourselves in the process, it’s going to take just as much time, if not more to fix both of our finances and our mental health. Like you I am also just doing minimun payments on my credit card and line of credit right now because my personal training business failed due to my gambling and lifestyle, so I know what it’s like to have not much $ to no money coming in and getting smoked in interest every month. At least our credit will not be affected this way and we can start making better payments when work picks up. Going to meetings is great man and it really helps you try to find the root and GA is a real eye opener to see what this has done to many people should we continue to gamble we will end up losing a lot more of not only our money, but our youth, the years that matter. We are still younger than I’d say 75% of people in GA if not more, don’t know if the same where you are. You must keep pushing , 4 weeks is a huge accomplishment For a compulsive gambler, and let me tell you it does get better each day that passes (58 days over here) keep posting, keep going to meetings, keep speaking positive thoughts to your mind in this time, and know that everything will work itself out, in time, finances , mental health, relationships, jobs, patience is our best friend in A time like this. I believe in you brother and I’m right here battling with you day by day. wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy Gamble free New Years. you got this.
Nearly one month is such a great achievement. ESP living where you do. Vegas is and was my downfall for my major relapses. I love Vegas so much … yet the 3 times I’ve been ive relapsed worse than the previous time and I continue my binge when I get back to my city chasing my losses from Vegas.. each chase being worse than the previous. I love Vegas so much yet I know I can never return.. well.. never say never right. I’d love to be able to go to my fav pool parties one day and not gamble while I’m there, I pray one day I’m able to. I can tell in your words that you are determined to stop this time.. you sound like you are on the right path and I’m very proud of your near one month gamble free mark. 21 days to break a habit right ? You got this amber.. never look back.. remember all the pain gambling has caused and remember how amazing you feel without gambling.. and watch the financials grow and the mental health get better day by day, enjoying what’s important in life, family, friends, and memories! Gamble free memories! Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy New Years. Take care my friend. Much love all the way from Canada.
How’s everything going? Hope you are well and gamble free!
Keep us updated if you can:)Hope you’re having a great holiday season !
Hope you are well… been a while. Please come and give us an update when you can. Praying for you always .