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...
Good weekend, after a tough week, super emotional, having to say good bye to someone, and then, losing a rescue dog that I had been supporting, was rescued by a dear friend, after it had been abused, unfortunately, we lost him. This weekend, I spent it with my daughter, and had the most joyful time. My gambling days are behind me, not saying its been easy, but I believe after my last relapse, I realized, I really had to do the WORK, in order to stay away from my addiction. When I say WORK, its not like getting up to go to work every morning, its like, working my recovery, every day, every minute of every day. I'm not as obsessed with the idea of placing a bet anymore, for some reason, that has dissipated, but, I do struggle still with the guilt and the damage financially as well as emotionally.
Having a relationship with my family is the best gift, and only because I have not ran to the casino. Huge help that I signed myself out for life from all of the local casinos and my old stomping grounds. It makes it much harder for me to get in my car and go, the closest casino may be an hour or so away, and I just have zero desire to go. Its funny, the last time I went, I banned myself for life from a casino in Oceanside, Oceans 11, and the manager hugged me and said "I'll miss you." WOW, well, nothing personal, but, I don't miss you. hugs.
Having a relationship with my family is the best gift, and only because I have not ran to the casino. Huge help that I signed myself out for life from all of the local casinos and my old stomping grounds. It makes it much harder for me to get in my car and go, the closest casino may be an hour or so away, and I just have zero desire to go. Its funny, the last time I went, I banned myself for life from a casino in Oceanside, Oceans 11, and the manager hugged me and said "I'll miss you." WOW, well, nothing personal, but, I don't miss you. hugs.
have another great gamble-free day.
I became friendly with my local casino host. Her job was to keep me gambling though, and I knew that. When I did write her an email and tell her I would never be back and to please take me off of every contact list they had, she did say "good for you" and I never heard from her or them again.
I am sorry about the tough week, though- I can totally relate. My mother passed away on 10/27 (my 1 year 11 month mark, btw) after a sudden incident where she was hospitalized for a week. What made that even tougher was knowing that when I went through that 20+ years ago it really sent me into a tail spin, so dealing with her death with my anxiety that I needed to be extra careful was daunting to say the least. I must say that having reconnected with many family members during the course of all this had and has been a tremendous help and gift as you said in your post. As I've come to really learn, compulsive gambling is, indeed, an emotional problem, not a financial problem, so, for me, I need to really try and keep my emotions in a manageable place.
Hang in there and keep it moving forward!
Jay