Glad you made it back, where others struggle too. Sorry to hear you weren’t able to fight the urge while abroad. What is important is you know you have fallen, now you know you have to pick yourself back up and fight the addiction.

I am fortunate that the state I live in does voluntary exclusion plans. If I am caught on their property, I can be arrested for criminal trespassing. I know there are probably ways around it but I do not want to know or even attempt. I am fighting to keep my
family in tact.

Keep on fighting. You can do this!

Hey vintagehoby glad to see your back to. Just keep writing and hope you can find some other resources to help you get through this. Writing here definitely helps me stay accountable. Sometimes I sound like a broken record but it gets the shit out of my head and keeps me one day more away from gambling. You no what you gotta do it’s just going to take some time and effort on your part. We’re here for you to and that support helps alot. Wishing you lots of strength

Do you not have gamban for your devices? It’s an electronic block that you cant get around on your phone. It costs a bit to begin with but you will recoup that money in one day of not gambling. If you can self exclude then do it and dont deactivate it. You have to put some effort in on your part as well and this attempt may be the one that works. Put all the blocks in place and DONT TELL YOURSELF YOU DONT NEED THEM. Its clear that you do and you must not let you talk yourself into not using what ever is out there because it makes you feel a bit uncomfortable. Just make the decision to do it and then follow through. I self excluded at the gaming center and the casino the last time I went in and lost control. It was embarrassing but it was a moment in time that i never regret and neither will you. If you cant self exclude on your devices then the next best thing ( probably the better thing actually ) is to download software that prevents you from playing at the casinos on your phone. Please dont just leave this to your self control to stop because it is exponentially harder to do so this way. Stay strong.

Hey vintagehoby to answer your question life has gotten alot better for me because I put alot of effort into my recovery. Cleaning up the mess is taking a bit longer but thats part of the process. I was just reading about what you said about being tempted. The only thing that works is the blockers you have to remove yourself from anyway of gambling. It takes quite a few weeks to get through that withdrawl/temptation stage so you really have to force yourself to make sure you can’t gamble again. I understand how hard it is we’ve all been through it. It was the same when I quit drinking and doing drugs I had to stay away from people,places,and things that associate with those. Same goes for gambling. That’s what’s harder for us is we are all attached to our phones like flies on shit these days lol. But having a phone with easy access means putting those barriers in place like the ones losingitslowly mentioned. If you don’t your gonna continue this cycle over and over.