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...
It has been over a year since I joined this site. Many day 1's...much anxiety, depression, sleepless nights, debt, etc. Joined GA, contacted helpline, therapy and lots of encouragement from family and friends, I will soon celebrate 150 days. So many of my first friends from this site no longer check in, I wonder...are they ok?....Did they slip?.... it is humbling to me and a constant reminder to never feel too comfortable in my recovery and never be judgmental as we all struggle daily. My life is so much better and my finances continue to improve. My sleeping habits are back to normal...I enjoy family time...and I thank God dailyfor his help and blessings in my life. My college roommate buried her 18 yr old daughter this weekend from heroin overdose....so my prayer today is for all addicts to find their way and seek help ad realize you have people who love you and are rooting you on. Be strong and believe!
I am just around 10 1/2 months abstinent after 20 years of ups, downs, therapy, 12-steps and finally a very hard rock bottom. This time I was scared and motivated, with the help of a wonderful counselor, a loving face to face support group, hard internal work and the thread to my own spirituality, life is not perfect but I can feel love (from above, from others and from myself) for the first time in my life.
Many people come and go in support support groups, that has been my experience both in face to face and online support groups. You could try messaging them, perhaps they check in once in awhile. Some folks change their tools, i.e. D/S may have been a tool they turned to often in the beginning but changed to another effective tool. Some could no longer have an Internet connection for any number of reasons.
Some folks are not ready to put their addiction down, yet. If you are actively gambling, it creates shame that prevents them from posting.
That may be an excuse of the inner gambler, who at all costs is working to anesthetize any uncomfortable feelings. So they cannot post asking for help, (from the inner gambler's point of view), because you might get it.
My last spin of the slots was Jan 20, 2014.
Coming to this site, and others, was instrumental in my success. It helped to read about the stories of others. I was amazed at the similarities to my issues.
Recovery is nothing like I imagined it to be. For me, my struggles were not with temptation to gamble again - my struggle was coming to terms with the issues that led me to develop this addiction. I am making strides in this area, but it is still a challenge at times.
I wish I could articulate what happened to me on that January night to make me decide to quit. All I know is that something just clicked and I knew to my core that I was done with it. It took my last dollar, my dignity, my integrity, a mountain of debt that I am still paying off, and a threat to my very soul to get me to that realization, but I am grateful every say that it happened.
To those of you that are still gambling - do not stop coming here! Keep reading and posting. You can do this!!
I've definitely been struggling with developing new ways to cope with stress in everyday life. But, little by little, I'm getting there. Meditation has been a life-saver. And though it took till day 60 or so to get the energy to start, exercise has also been wonderful.