Today I fought the urge. I went for a movie in a mall instead of heading to a casino. I wanted to buy a watch today but since I lost 600usd the other weekend I couldn't dare myself to buy considering the money Ive lost. I could have bought anything with that money.

I'm 6+ mos. The first few weeks I just sort of posted in the house. I know that may sound kind of chicken, but I was scared to leave the house alone. I tend to isolate so at first I was a bit worried about it. But it's tapered off considerably since those first few weeks of abstaining from gambling. I know not everyone can just stay home, I don't work so it's easy for me. Like I said, I tend to isolate, but I'm also a homebody. So, in conclusion I say stay at home and heal for a bit, if it helps. Sit on your hands, if you must. Just don't gamble. Home is my security base. Today I will not gamble.

This thread of support was very helpful.I have also relapsed again and needed advice on battling this awful addiction. Thanks to all of you. I can do this.

Anything that WORKS is the BEST idea for the person using it.
To fill the void I employed, meditation, prayer, journaling, GA meetings, a weekly counseling session, another weekly support group, painting, coloring, drawing, photography, hiking, making plans on a regular basis to play Scrabble with a friend, and cribbage with another friend, reading, going to the library, listening to a recorded book, going to a movie, going to open mike comedy nights, karaoke, dancing, and volunteering. I volunteered at my local Habitat for Humanity, a Raptor Rehabilitation Center, a cat rescue organization, a clean-up event for a local park and a little at the children's ward of the local hospital. (I could not take the children's ward - that takes a special kind of person, I think.) Anything and everything is what I was willing to try. Now 2 yrs 10 1/2 months later I don't have to be doing something all of the time. I can just be now, and be comfortable in my own skin. Part of that is building the trust back, (lost in gambling), with myself, that takes consistently taking good care of myself and making good decisions for myself daily with my best interests at heart. You can do this, keep on getting back on track when you get derailed - don't give up.

Yesterday i almost went to the casino but fought the urge, now im 3 weeks sober, going for a month... hopefully i can sustain this

Part of the difficulty in stopping, for me, was allowing myself to believe, since I had just stopped for a while, that I would be able to gamble "just a little". That by stopping a few weeks I could be a normal gambler that could stop whenever I wanted. I had to put barriers in place and I had to do other activities - anything besides gamble to begin with. It helps to revive friendships or make new ones, volunteering can take a big chunk of time and brings good feelings with it, as does exercise, meditation, guided imagery, and artwork. Writing out your reasons you want to quit and/or creating a "good-bye" letter to gambling that you can reread later when you have an urge to gamble was helpful to me. I tried anything and everything to initially get quit and now have a plan and a routine that helps me stay abstinent.