Hello and thanks for starting a thread in the Gambling Therapy forums

Here at Gambling Therapy we pride ourselves on being a caring and diverse online community who can help and support you with the difficulties you?re currently facing. We understand that this might be a tough time for you, particularly if you?re new to recovery, so come here as often as you need to and participate in the forums, access online groups and connect to the live advice helpline if you need one to one support. We?re in this together!

Here on the forum you can share your experiences in a safe, supportive and accepting environment. The beauty of writing it all down is that you can take your time and you will be creating a record of your progress that you can look back on if it ever feels like you?re not moving forward. So, share as much or as little as you like but do try to stick to keeping just one thread in this forum so people know where to find you if they want to be updated on your progress or share something with you.

And on that note….

I?m going to hand you over to our community because I?m sure they will have some words of wisdom for you ??

Take care

The Gambling Therapy Team

PS: Let me just remind you to take a look at our
privacy policy and terms and conditions so you know how it all works!

How long have you been gambling? I have a long running and serious problem. I also used to work in the City and know you can earn great money, so financially focus on getting back in there! Once you have an income again, you can see other ways to make money. When out of work, then I can imagine it may seem like gambling provides the only way to get back on track..Unfortunately, it’s only gonna get worse. So my advice would be to get busy on the job hunt and dont let the thieving bookies and casinos get any more of your money! By the way I am on day 29 of zero gambling so it definitely gets easier in my experience, but you have t have other positives to focus on.

Hey Harry well done on seeking help on here, this is a positive first step.

Now the first thing you should know is that you’ll get a lot of wonderful advice and support from this board from people who are recovering or are in a similar boat to yourself. But rest assured this is a battle only YOU can control. It will be one of the toughest battles of your life, and likely also the most important. Losing a large amount at a young age and over a short amount of time changes the way your brain is wired, the addiction will be with you for life, it’s a matter of whether you can control it or now. Right now you may feel 100% confident that you will reset and just give up gambling but no one simply says „I quit” and gives up forever magically. You need to WANT to stop forever, not to stop losing. You must accept your defeat and accept the losses are gone. You must also put in multiple measures in place that will prevent you from further gambling – full self-exclusion as well as gambling blockers on your devices if you play on the internet. It is also highly recommended for you to get emotional support during this process. GA is a great place to start although it is not necessarily for everyone. If you have anyone you can confide to please do so. Don’t do this alone. You are still young and sound like a smart individual with a lot of potential so please don’t throw away your future to gambling. You have time to turn it around and lead a good life but you must WANT to stop yourself. If you continue you will lose a lot more than your money (I’m sure you already know this). A life of gambling is a life of torture and you need to do everything in your powers to not continue going down that dark, dark path. Grieve the loss but never lose sight of the value of your life itself. I wish you the best of luck.