Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group
Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...
I have been on this site off and on the past couple years and kept having trouble really quitting.
It really wasn't until I made the commitment to get help in person by seeing a gambling addiction counselor that I was able to stop. In many states this is a service provided at low or no cost. I pay $10 a week to see her for one hour a week individual therapy and once a week group meeting with usually 5 or 6 other people. This has been SO helpful. I really encourage people to seek out this resource!!
The other thing that really helped me was banning myself, signing the papers, sending it in, just doing it! All the times I had the temptation to go the past few months I would quickly remind myself that with the ban I could not collect on jackpots or big wins, and they had my picture and could escort me out or even have me arrested. This was a great deterrant.
I think the reason I was so resistant to doing these things (seeing a counselor, signing the self-exclusion paperwork) was because that addictive part of me just knew it was gonna work and didn't want it to happen! So if you feel the resistance to taking action with self exclusion or going to a group or seeing a counselor, push through it!!! I have not yet made it to a GA meeting, but I do plan to add that into my regimen in the near future. For now, my one on one counseling and weekly small group therapy meetings are enough. If you're intimidated by the idea of going to a large GA group, the smaller counseling sessions might be a good fit to get you started.
On Dec 1st I will be 120 days gamble free! I'm really happy to have accomplished that. I honestly did not think i could do it for this long.
The next big challenge? I have to attend a business conference in Las Vegas in two weeks. Thankfully, it's just for two days and I'm taking my husband with me to watch over me. We are staying at the Venetian. I will be busy during the day at the conference and at night we plan to go for nice dinners and shows and AVOID being around gambling.....pretty challenging, I know. Las Vegas is probably the last place on earth I should go right now, but in my line of work I just cannot avoid this conference, so I have to find a way to make it work. Any suggestions? :-)
Lisa
It really wasn't until I made the commitment to get help in person by seeing a gambling addiction counselor that I was able to stop. In many states this is a service provided at low or no cost. I pay $10 a week to see her for one hour a week individual therapy and once a week group meeting with usually 5 or 6 other people. This has been SO helpful. I really encourage people to seek out this resource!!
The other thing that really helped me was banning myself, signing the papers, sending it in, just doing it! All the times I had the temptation to go the past few months I would quickly remind myself that with the ban I could not collect on jackpots or big wins, and they had my picture and could escort me out or even have me arrested. This was a great deterrant.
I think the reason I was so resistant to doing these things (seeing a counselor, signing the self-exclusion paperwork) was because that addictive part of me just knew it was gonna work and didn't want it to happen! So if you feel the resistance to taking action with self exclusion or going to a group or seeing a counselor, push through it!!! I have not yet made it to a GA meeting, but I do plan to add that into my regimen in the near future. For now, my one on one counseling and weekly small group therapy meetings are enough. If you're intimidated by the idea of going to a large GA group, the smaller counseling sessions might be a good fit to get you started.
On Dec 1st I will be 120 days gamble free! I'm really happy to have accomplished that. I honestly did not think i could do it for this long.
The next big challenge? I have to attend a business conference in Las Vegas in two weeks. Thankfully, it's just for two days and I'm taking my husband with me to watch over me. We are staying at the Venetian. I will be busy during the day at the conference and at night we plan to go for nice dinners and shows and AVOID being around gambling.....pretty challenging, I know. Las Vegas is probably the last place on earth I should go right now, but in my line of work I just cannot avoid this conference, so I have to find a way to make it work. Any suggestions? :-)
Lisa
and bugsmudge, good for you keeping the reading material handy to resist temptations.
I'm learning daily from you all that it is very possible to overcome my gambling addiction. Seems like what works best is admitting you have a problem, seeking help for your problem, and working a recovery-12 step program on a daily basis.
Thanks for sharing your successes & your struggles. Have a great day!!
I resisted the self-exclusion for a very long time, but since I've done it I would say it is probably the best deterrent yet!