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...
Hi everyone!
I have posted here in the past and I had done great in my recovery on gambling. I only reduced my gambling to one scratchoff a week but in recent weeks, I've been having problems with work, health, family, and my body. I ended up buying $30 worth of $5 scratchoff tickets (luckily for me, I won $20 back and used it towards stuff I needed) but I didn't pay off my phone bill.
I look at my empty wallet and I say to myself, "This has got to stop." I still have some power over my gambling problem. I think to myself as I stand in front of a scratchoff machine, "What will possibly be the outcome of this? If I win, I win, but then if I lose, I'll be out $5. It's either the high, or a full stomach from buying lunch with this money." So I will walk away from it.
I am hoping to stop this terrible addiction. It's caused enough problems in my life. I've got thousands of dollars in medical bills from suicidal thoughts and loan money from this. I WILL NOT return to this vicious cycle.
I have posted here in the past and I had done great in my recovery on gambling. I only reduced my gambling to one scratchoff a week but in recent weeks, I've been having problems with work, health, family, and my body. I ended up buying $30 worth of $5 scratchoff tickets (luckily for me, I won $20 back and used it towards stuff I needed) but I didn't pay off my phone bill.
I look at my empty wallet and I say to myself, "This has got to stop." I still have some power over my gambling problem. I think to myself as I stand in front of a scratchoff machine, "What will possibly be the outcome of this? If I win, I win, but then if I lose, I'll be out $5. It's either the high, or a full stomach from buying lunch with this money." So I will walk away from it.
I am hoping to stop this terrible addiction. It's caused enough problems in my life. I've got thousands of dollars in medical bills from suicidal thoughts and loan money from this. I WILL NOT return to this vicious cycle.
Out of mind, out of sight, they say. Keep yourself busy and things will take care of itself :)
You have the presence of mind to walk away, that's great! Keep on walking.
It was only when I read the statistics about the tickets that I realized how bad the odds were. Kind of like seeing the calorie and fat counts on a menu, keeps me from ordering that 2000 calorie chocolate mud mousse double cream deluxe slice of cheesecake!
Keep on walking... :)
The odds are against you.
Not very likely to win much, it happens , not often.
I feel like it's the addiction, the high it gives you.
Go do something nice for you.
I'm saying big prayers for you.
The meeting helped me last night.
Get to a meeting....
I had to turn this over to the God of my understanding. After I truly accepted that I was powerless, I began to depend on God to help me through the urges and to use the tools of GA. Talk to a sponsor and start working the steps.
No amount of advice or understanding why I gambled changed this for me. I had to come to a place of total surrender and then I could accept help.
Our addiction can not be arrested by willpower alone. I also found out that I needed to work on my spirituality because I could not let go of the control and because my character defects continue to cause problems in my life. I am simply a work in progress!