Day 1... Came clean

Hey Katie
Welcome....and well done on telling...
Lots of things you can do to help yourself love
Have a snoop around here...take a look at my diary id you fancy...my addiction was online slots. ...take one day at a time love...keep coming on here...take care x

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Hi Katiecoo, well done for coming clean but please get yourself some extra support! Plenty of people here can tell you exactly how you break your word to your family because coming clean no more fixes our brain than being bailed out. You have had a lot of stress to manage over the years & simply coming clean won't stop the pain of illness or the churning fear of anxiety. Joining a library is a great step & there may be clubs or coffee mornings that you can go to from there? Have you had any support from the helpline (GamCare offer counselling services) or your GP which will have support groups for stress management that will give you other tools to manage your racing heart!

Not having the escape of gambling may feel incredibly scary but it was only ever a temporary respite...When your money ran out, your fears & pain were compounded by financial difficulty. Recovery is hard @ times but never give up on it because even on the bad days, it's so much better than having your soul sucked out by a machine!

Happy reading - ODAAT

Thats great Katiecoo

Please keep talking through the blocks with your partner and it may well be that you need to live on an allowance as your mind heals

Reach out for all the help on offer including counselling and a chat with the doctor.

I understand stress related gambling and a large part of this is healing you and understanding why you would reach out to these harmful activities as a source of comfort.

I had to learn to calmly let it go and blocks were essential in the early stages and still are really. You will have to cover all angles and this may always be within us even if its under control. There is no room for complacency or thinking it was easily beaten

I realised that I was suffering from depression and the extreme stress of seeing no future. I was bottling this stress up and deluding myself that I was even a fraction feeling ok.

Life is much better gamble free.

Best wishes from everyone on the forum

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I need to find a new crutch

Dear Katiecoo, welcome here and well done for coming clean, you are over the first hurdle and that is admitting that you have a problem. This is my first attempt at trying to rid myself of this horrible addiction. So many people do not understand the hold that this has over us. I know how this addiction can help us to fall into our own little world when things are really tough for us in the real world. I lost my little sister last year to breast cancer and she was only 31 and left behind her 3 gorgeous kids and my brother in law. This is why I ended up slipping further and further into it as away to escape. You can do this, one day at a time, we are all here to support you x

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It will get better katiecoo as you train your brain to concentrate on other diversions. For example, why not plan a holiday. Spend all the time you would have gambled on looking around for the best value holiday you can find. Even if you can't book it right now! With all that extra cash you will have, anything's possible.

Just imagine. Multiply by 6 what you would have gambled each month for the next 6 months and there's your holiday and spending money fund, right there.

Your brain will thank you for a rewarding diversion!! Just an idea.

Concentrating on cleaning at the moment and strangely its relaxing, well to me lol...not my partner as he is being made to clear his clutter.. clean house , clean mind !

Day 5 tomorrow katiecoo. Baby steps but they will soon turn into big footprints!

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Keep pushing Katie..
Love the post about the cleaning...I was just the same..wonderfull time filler and so rewarding....I then moved on to decorating...even knocked a wall down ! lol
Just do whatever it takes hun. ..