There is a phone in GA meeting here on Wendesday nights. In the meantime take it a day at a time and try to reclaim your life. You did not get this way overnight and it will take some time and effort on your part to get back on track. This is a fight for the rest of your life and it is so worth it. God Bless

Thank you so much. I appreciate your response. I'm tired of being consumed by this. I want my life back. I want to be happy again. Everything I've read online seems to be so discouraging... Like it's nearly impossible to overcome. My goal is to be the minority. I'd really like to read some success stories and discover diff avenues as far as coping and managing myself. I know I have a long road ahead but the long road looks much more appealing than the downward spiral I've been on.

If you go back over the posts on here you will find success stories. You need to make it impossible for you to play those games on your phone. Mine was hooked up to a debit card and I reported my card lost. Then when I got a new one I gave it to someone to hold for me and pay my bills. You need to remove access to money from yourself as it pertains to gambling. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

You don't need to feel powerless, there are things you can do NOW before you find a GA meeting. Coming to this site helps. NewGirl's suggestions of reading past posts and putting some barriers between you and your money are good. You can educate yourself about this addiction, there are references to You Tube videos in the last few days of posts that are helpful and informative. You can make a list of things that you can do for twenty minutes that cost little or nothing that have nothing to do with gambling, so that you have some things ready to do. Art work or anything creative helps with anxiety and urges. (Even coloring in a coloring book.) Volunteering some where can help fill the time and help your self image.
Writing out a goodbye to gambling, including all the reasons why you don't want to gamble anymore and where it has brought you and how you feel about it. It will help your gather your resolve and cement your desire to quit. Then you can use this goodbye as a tool, when you get a thought to gamble, re-read it. Journaling helps to sort out the feelings that often come in a flood or tsunami when in withdrawal. Keeping a daily gratitude diary can help you feel better, count your blessings and get your priorities straight. Enlist the help of your spouse, your friends and your children. Be honest with them and yourself about the extent of the problem. I am guessing if this addiction is destroying your marriage and your relationship with your kids you are spending far more than three hours per DAY gambling. That you would have to travel 3 hours to a GA meeting, to save your life might be trivial. There is also a possibility of starting a GA meeting in your town, you can get materials from GA. You only need two or three people to start a meeting. You might advertise on MeetUp.com or CL or local paper, I am guessing you are not the only one struggling with this in your town.
Do anything and everything you can to get between you and your addiction. I am a little over two years abstinent and my life is worth living again.

No meetings, then come here, look online, find that phone meeting, which I can never find, and go to AA meetings, even though you cannot share in them, you can listen and replace the word alcohol when said to gambling. Look at the steps which are usually printed and hung on the walls. Perhaps see a therapist one day a week so you can talk about gambling. Indeed this is a very insidious disease and we have to go to any lengths to be healed. Good luck.

Thank you all so much. I'm currently in therapy once a week. She suggested the meetings and I want to go. I've bounced from one addiction to the next over the last several years and it's time to break the cycle. I can't keep going like this. My family needs back and I do too.