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'm glad to be back. I have been gambling free for the last 2 days but not by choice. I m down to 100. Until Friday and that has to cover food and gas. I went on quite the bender this week while on vacation. Blew a lot of money. I guess I still don t have a grip on this addition. I m struggling with free time and it s been difficult. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. (Quick background- 53,widowed last 7 yrs , employed at the PO)
That took awhile. Initially I did anything and everything I could that was not gambling. Revive old hobbies, take on some new ones, revive old friendships and schedule things with a variety people on a regular basis. Treatment/counseling, GA, a gratitude diary, affirmations, reading and posting on D/S, mindfulness, education about addiction, creating a spiritual connection, going to a weekly face to face support group, journaling when I had an urge all helped me get quit. Being creative helped me fight urges as well as depression. Things like finger-painting, coloring, doodling, whittling, collages, photography, dancing all take the edge off of severe anxiety and depression. Exercise-like - movement of any kind, sports, yoga, dancing again, produces dopamine, the substance we must withdraw from large doses induced by gambling to smaller natural levels. Making an effort to practice meticulous self-care, monitoring my thoughts, eradicating criticism of all kinds. I had to do all of the above and continue do most of them today.
We are social animals, if we do not connect with other people we will connect with things and substances or behaviors. Becoming human-doings in stead of human beings along the way.