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 am in my 28th month of abstinence from gambling. Right now I am in an especially challenging time that has put my recovery to the test.
Unforseen circumstances in my life have led me to the point where I am once again financially challenged. It's been a rough few months and with one thing after another the savings it took me nearly 2 years to build are rapidly dwindling away. Traveling to see a sick parent hundreds of miles away, a pay cut at work, car problems, health issues and before I knew it I'm almost back to living paycheck to paycheck. To make matters worse I will soon have to curtail my traveling and lose time with my loved one in order to keep myself afloat financially. The whole reason I am so financially burdened is the debt I incurred as a result of my gambling addiciton. The past few months have really beaten me down and made me seriously question is it worth working this hard to fight the addiction. Even thought I am no longer gambling it still feels like it is winning.
When I found myself feeling at my weakest and like I may break I began writing a detailed memoir of what a day in darkest, deepest depths of my addiciton was like. I didn't hold anything back. The more I wrote and recounted the scarier and more troubling it became. It made my resolve against losing this battle even stronger.
In recovery there will be times where life isn't going to cooperate. You will be tested. It is during those tests where our true strength and character emerge. Once I finish up this memoir I will share it on here.
Regarding financial help, have you ever read or watched any of Dave Ramsey's videos for free on line? He is very knowledgeable & he makes it easy to reach financial goals, step by step. I, too, as I'm sure all if us gambling addicts face our gambling debts & it can be a daunting task...but once I watched Dave Ramsey's step by step guide to becoming debt free, it really helped. Check it out.
I know you know that gambling won't solve any problem.. It only makes our problems worth. "If there were no struggle, there would be no strength" ((BIG HUG))
We're all here for you. Take care
please do all you can to stay connected. face to face meetings have given my life problems so much support -- and celebrating the miracles (even small ones) with others really does my heart good.
keep building your life -- perhaps you can't see it now but putting one foot in front of other, doing next right thing will amaze you when you look back in years to come -- that is faith and I continue to work on mine too
all best to you
I was in a place similar to you about four months ago. I was really stressed out, just felt like things weren't going my way. I didn't have the coping mechanisms that I thought I did to get through the rough times.
And so, after 17 months of sobriety, I gave in. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway.
And then, two months later, I did it again.
But it didn't make the hard times easier. If anything, it made them worse. I'm plagued with these constant urges that are stronger than they were during the 17 months I wasn't gambling. These urges have me thinking about my next gamble, stockpiling cash before confessing to my therapist, figuring out how to sneak around and go.
It's not a good side of myself. It's not who I want to be. And it's not who you want to be, either. If I can tell you anything, it's this: One day at a time.