Gambling addiction is a serious illness, if you have faith in God, pray for help to stop, then reach out to professionals and support groups to assist you.

Let go of your losses and focus on being free of the addiction. Our free will is our greatest gift, and getting that back is worth more than all the money in the world.

You have to want it. I will pray for you.

good advice, we are serious when we say you cannot do this alone, or just on a forum, or wishing or hoping, this is do or die....go out to a GA meeting now......there is no other way, let go and let God

If not GA, there are trained counselors in gambling addiction specifically. You can call 1-800- 522-4700, the National Council on Problem Gambling, 24 hours per day/7 days per week, they are trained gambling addiction counselors and can tell you what resources are available in your area. My state provides free counseling to compulsive gamblers and their loved ones, where the loved ones can get help for themselves and learn how to deal with the gambler in their life, even if the gambling is not seeking treatment. After most of 4 decades my gambling was no longer controllable - I had to do everything and anything to get any amount of time gamble free. I was willing after being totally crushed by this disease to do whatever it took to get between myself and gambling. It was hard work, took diligence, vigilance and lots of pain, tears and agony.
Gambling to punish another person is about like resentment and anger : You are taking poison and hoping the other person will die. (Not very effective.)
You can start today, now, with: 1) educating yourself about this addiction, 2) Write out a "goodbye to gambling" letter, include the bad feelings and why you want to quit, 3) Write out other things you can do for at least 20 minutes that cost little or no money when you have a thought or urge to gamble, (i.e. take a bubble bath, call a friend, do some artwork) 4) Write out a Relapse prevention plan: write out each thing that triggers you and a plan as to what you will do instead of gambling, the next time that trigger occurs. (i.e.: I feel like gambling when my sister says mean things to me, next time she says something I feel is mean, I will repeat a positive affirmation, 5) Remove your access to money, carry only a small amount of cash that does not trigger you. 6) Develop the other parts of your life again, rekindle friendships, make new friendships, take a class, rekindle your hobbies, make new hobbies, laugh, do something creative, volunteer someplace that you have a passion for their mission. 7)Practice meticulous self-care: eat healthily, mindfulness, exercise, sleep a full 8 hours if possible, be kind to your-self as a best friend would. Become the best friend and good parent to yourself that has been missing. GA meetings, professional counseling, support groups are necessary, we are social beings, it is difficult, if not impossible to get well from this devastating disease in isolation.

Thank u all for you time and support

You're right about there being no good excuse to continue to gamble, not when we're addicted to it. Our excuses are lies. I love what kenjileach said about our free will being our greatest gift; I can change if I want to. I can say yes or no, to myself, and mean it, based on what is best for me. Free will, I love it!

You are right about another thing, it never ends. It is when we convince ourselves that we can be social gamblers again that we are the most vulnerable. It does not go away even if you have 20 years of abstinence, our inner gambling addict lies in wait for weak moments when it can/will reach out and tap us and call us and lie to us that it would be fun... I have witnessed people with many years of abstinence or sobriety from their addiction, fall like children to addiction. I must adopt an attitude of vigilance and mindfulness, ever aware of the thoughts I am feeding myself, in order to stay in recovery and not turn to old or new addictions. That is the best scenario we can hope for, I think. Allowing complacency or hopelessness to overcome me is risking opening doors to addiction, old and new, inviting them in, so to speak. Hang in there, you are worth the battle!

I also realized that some of my desire to go to the casino was promoted by inner feelings of "resentment" and anger at my husband for many things, past and present. I thought that his criticism of me when he found out how many times I had gone to the slot cafes during the week and about the money I lost was mean and unfair. I made up excuses for my behavior and panic state by blaming him, sometimes. I would justify that it wasn't fair that because he makes much more money than I do, He feels that he can spend ihis money how he wants, but that I don't get to have that option.

He would tell me that if I wanted to waste money in the slots, then I needed to go out and get a good job, but he "works hard for his paycheck so he can afford to take a few hundred out every other week or so to go to the casino!" I was very angry that he didn't consider my having any value as a housewife! I do work part-time as a sub, but I also have days when I am at home sweating my ass off (I wish that could happen!) cleaning the house! He has NEVER scrubbed clean a toilet or a bathtub ring! He rarely wipes out the sink when he is brushing his teeth! He doesn't make beds or vacuum or scrub floors, etc. so, he has no idea how things manage to stay pretty clean!

I felt that I deserved to have an allowance of some sort! But he would say that I would ind s way to squander it away. Other resentments began to re-surface, and I actuality LIED to myself that I had a right to an allowance and soul be able to use better judgment and restraint. HOWEVER- - I only proved opposite! My gambling addiction probably grew out of stress I suffered last year,, not just my hifden resentment toward my husband.

Resentment, grief, loss, childhood abuse, all of the things on the Adverse Childhood Experiences list, (Here is a link to the test and interpretations: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean), abusive adult relationships, previous/or current other addictions, physical illness, aging, all are things that make us more vulnerable to gambling addiction. Often, addiction issues come about because we do have REAL PAIN, either physical, emotionally, spiritual or psychic pain that we are in need of numbing. Numbing by means of escape, avoidance and addiction is what the alcoholic, narcissistic, abusive parents I had, modeled for me, I did not have other tools.
I have many more coping skills now, because I decided to seek them out, I decided to work out my psychic/mental/spiritual and abuse issues with a counselor. I decided going through it could not be worse than the decades of avoidance/addiction have been.
I realize how entitled and lazy some people can be, but that is their problem and their personality defect - If the two of you want to work on the marriage you must both be willing to tweak what you are doing. Communication is often key. Addiction within a family (any kind of addiction) is often a family disease, addiction just being a symptom of larger issues. Often when alcoholics get sober the marriage ends (no longer having the addiction to blame troubles on or to mute real feelings, codependent relationships fall apart). Sometimes the rest of the family can point at the addict and say that is the problem, as a method to never work on their own mental health issues. Then when the Alcoholic gets sober they don't have that to point to as the problem.
I am not a counselor, (just gone through lots of counseling and overcome multiple addiction issues in my 60+ years) but family and/or couples counseling seems necessary to regain some of the destroyed trust.
For myself I have had more than one relationship that crumbled under the pressure of addiction; sometimes my addiction, sometimes his. It is difficult to get oneself back to healthy living and thinking without professional help, it is exponentially more difficult for couples and families. I know that it is only by communicating our feelings, wants and desires and then making boundaries that we teach people how to treat us. I have also learned over the years, that disaster in my life often separates the wheat from the chaff in my friends and that there are worse things than living alone.