Hi,
I joined this forum 3 weeks ago having got myself hospitalised (gmabling) and I am on day 26 without gambling which is my longest for 5 years.
In that time I've admitted my problem to everyone, been accepted (albeit wait listed) to a 3 month rehab facility, signed up to Gamstop and started really making an effort to face up to my problems and try to undo some of the bad I've done.
Although I've lost almost everything and on paper my life has never been worse, I have felt lighter and less stressed than I have for years and years.
I haven't had an urge to gamble at all.
BUT - yesterday I received some money into my bank (£500) which is the first money I've had during this whole time. Even though it is impossible for me to place a bet because of Gamstop and the fact that I am unable to walk due to my leg casts, my mind is still racing away knowing that I have the means to gamble and telling myself that I could place an accumulator and win enough money to pay off all my debts, and wondering how I might possibly find a way to get a bet on.
I suspected I would get the urge once I knew I had money to gamble and that is exactly what has happened. The fact that I hadn't had an urge was only because I had no money to gamble and so my mind forgot about it.
Gamstop is a godsend because I would 100% have cracked and deposited that money into my betting account if I could and in all likelihood would have bladdered it within an hour like what normally happens.
I need to learn the coping mechanisms to resist the urges because next time I have money I might be able to walk to a bookies and then it's back to square one
@peter86 do you have anyone you could transfer it to so it's out of reach?
Chris.
Not really Chris. It is literally impossible for me to gamble it away anyway because everyone I know now knows I have a problem so wouldn't place a bet for me even if I asked them to and I still can't walk. It was just annoying to get the desire to gamble
Okay, I understand. The urges aren't unusual though as it's the first time that you've had money. It will get easier, just be prepared whenever you get unexpected monies.
Chris.
Hi peter. Do you feel more optimistic? Your posts sound it , even the urges are nothing to get upset about really as although extremely unpleasant are entirely normal. I think they start to get less as our brains get reconditioned.....or just gets tired of us saying NO lol. Hope this is the start of moving forward for you.
I can get irritated by myself when I want a bet. Its maddening........and its almost anger. I go so far as to pick the horses and then check the results - lost. Lost. Lost. Yet it still doesn't teach me as its an addiction mate. I think time is the only cure, months without betting until the urge slowly goes away and you don't even bother to check the races. Time......a great healer as they rightly say.
Well said mickpa
Sign up to MOSES which will mean you cant go in any of the bookies. That plus Gamstop should eliminate most avenues.
Hi @charlieboy and @mickpa I do feel more optimistic definitely because I have never taken any preventative measures before or shared my experiences like I am doing now.
I remember during the only previous time I stopped for a sustained period of time 5 years ago, I had self excluded from all my online accounts individually...but every time I got off the tube to walk home I could feel the lure almost like a magnet trying to pull me in the 4 bookies I had to pass on my way home. But, after the first couple of weeks of having the means and ability to place a bet I distinctly remember the urges subsiding and then I did really well for for a long time.
Last time what happened is that I had gone 6 months without a bet but was bored one Saturday and thought I could have a fun bet to keep me interested in the afternoon's footy and did a £10 accumulator, which obviously lost, and then it all started again but worse and more out of control than ever and it's been that way ever since
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