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...
Just spent another paycheck. So much fun to lose it all....NOT. Boy its amazing how we can keep on giving a STupid casino my cash ,when i do not have the extra to do it. I do have the papers in hand right now to go and mail off to block all access to atms and check cashing. I have been self banned myself from 1 casino and then did a statewide ok. bann, but found out if casino does not accept or acknowledge it . it does not apply. Found out by hitting a 2600. Jackpot and while waiting to see if i jyst donated it to casino charity or if they pay.... They paid me. I almost wished they did take it and then escourted me out of there. But oh no. I know i have to stop now. Not later...now! I'm doing all i can. No ga meetings here i can attend. The only one close to me is 30minutes away and it is at 7pm and i work1 to930pm. Just keep me in your prayers for thw strength and willpower to beat this awful and powerful problem.
You got it........
People that don't have this disease have no idea the struggle we go though. The highs and the lows that come daily. The lies we tell ourselves. You are not alone in your battle to stop the insanity.
9 PM Eastern Time
605 562 3140
Pin 311704
Hear you there :)
I gambled because I would get incredibly stressed at work and sometimes at home. I would get so tightly wound that I felt like I needed to escape. So I would run to the casino with whatever money I could get together -- sometimes whole paychecks, sometimes change from the bottom of my purse and the mats of my car -- and I would escape for hours at a time. If I won, I felt exhilarated and couldn't wait to go back. If I lost, I became self-defeating or just completely numb inside.
And I gambled because I felt like a big shot. Maybe not on the days I entered the casino with less than $5, but I felt like I was a high roller when I would walk in with $1-3K and buy in at the table. There I was, a young woman, dressed to the nines, buying in with thousands. I felt like I was the rich, successful person I always dreamed of being.
I've been gamble-free for over four months now. I've learned how to escape from the stresses of life by meditating, going to the self-help section of the bookstore, and getting a lot of massages. It's funny, I wouldn't even think of spending $100 for a massage before, thinking it was a waste of money, but I would spend up to $4K a month at the casino. But I'll spend a few hundred dollars a month on massages now. Any day of the week. It's so worth it.
I've learned to feel like a "big shot" in different ways, too. One way is doing nice things for other people. I started buying or making people gifts for their birthdays or anniversaries or weddings with my extra time and money, and people really have responded. It makes me feel like a "big shot," but in a different way. I've also gotten my "big shot" feeling from running -- I started running 4-6 days a week, and I'm up to six miles at a stretch now. It makes me feel like hot shit, lol. And I'm down twenty-five pounds. Even though I'm in a happy relationship, men notice, and that makes me feel amazing, too.
Basically, what I'm saying is, we gamble because it does something for us we aren't getting elsewhere. Find solid replacements. Meditation and massages help me escape far better than gambling ever did, and running and doing nice things for others make me feel more important than gambling ever did. It doesn't have to be noble emotion you're replacing - just find a way.
You will find something that will work for you if you are persistent and open to try new things.