On the 30 of October. I had a phone call no parent .should ever have to here .my ex wife rung me .to tell me our 23 year old gorgeous son .Had taken his own life .as I live in Wales and his mum lived in London. I could not understand why. when he left Wales 5 weeks earlier he seemed happy..but as we have now found out .he had a massive online gambling addiction.that he kept very well hidden from us .these sites are ruining lives every single day and the government keep letting them. We had a good relationship.and I asked him once was he gambling and he told me he did one every now and then .and as he looked me in the eye .I believed him. But when I got home and went to banks to get statements from his accounts his problem was massive .the devastation this vile dirty disease causes is unreal. I cannot believe I didn't see anything .and somehow we have to go on living as we will never have the answer of why he could not tell anyone.as we would of done anything for our gorgeous boy .when I read these forums .I can't believe how many this disease has gripped .and just feel like saying please stop before it's to late .because no parent should have to fill this pain and heartache.over this silent and deadly killer.these gambling sites need to be stopped .
Sorry to hear about your loss Kev. Be strong ! you are not alone !
Hi Kev71 Thankyou for taking the time to share your story. I'm so sorry for your loss. If nothing else we need to take the shame away from addiction. I hope you and your sons mother have help and support. It is truly devastating.
So sorry to hear of your loss. I hid my gambling addiction fairly successfully for may years. This is possible because, unlike drugs and alcohol, there are no physical symptoms of the addiction. Also it has always been very low profile compared to other addictions and therefore harder to find help
I am so very sorry for your loss.
Cathyx
So sorry to hear of your loss. Its a reminder what suffering this dreadful addiction causes.
Hi Kev, I too am so sorry to hear of your loss...Thoughts & prayers with you & your family x
Hi Kev,
Thank you for sharing this, I can only imagine the pain you must be going through. I very nearly put my wife, kids and parents through the same ordeal, I'm grateful that I'm still here today to be able to help others. Gambling addiction is unfortunately the addiction that can remain hidden for longer without suspision. I feel strongly that banks and gambling sites need to be doing more to intervene and highlight problem gambling, after all they could be the only ones other than the gambler who knows the true extent of their gambling. May I suggest you get in contact with, if you haven't already @Gamblingwithlives on twitter or ( http://gamblingwithlives.org/)
You will be in my thoughts
Hi Kev, what a heart breaking story and just shows the devastation that gambling can bring. So sorry for your loss.
I read your post to Mike and it made me cry. As a recovering gambler and having those thoughts in August. It's sad to see Mike going through it and we can't reach him. I hope he's still on here reading posts like yours.
I have no answers why your beautiful boy ended his life. I know that the demons fight hard to keep us in a dark place. I'm mortified at how low a dark place that felt to me. Like I guess watching a supernatural drama where the two brothers go fighting demons. But it's the demons that make it harder to fight. Sort of a inbetween of normality and hell. Some are lucky they don't experience that but those who have had the suicide thoughts possibly have.
Sending you lots of love.
Bella xx
So sad to read your story but I thank you for sharing, many of us have been in that awful place your son was in, thinking there was no other way out. It’s truly heartbreaking ... I hope you find some peace and that this community can help you on your journey too. God bless... Kaz xxx
I’m so very very sorry for your loss , we have just found out my son has a on line gaming addiction and it’s devastating
Hello Jen2019,
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