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 just wanted to post this because I am sure there are things you do that trigger the need/want to gamble. I have been gamble free now for 9 months. We went out to eat and I had a few beers, well maybe a lot to drink. During this time I had such an urge to go gamble. It was in the evening time and My mind kept going to that place and desire to gamble. I had already had it planned that in the morning as soon as I got up I would take the day off from work, take a $1,000.00 and go to the casino and play. The desire was so great that if I could have I would have gone last night but fortunately I didn't. Well, I woke up this morning and my thought was WHAT WAS I THINKING? I am so glad it is morning and I have my wits about me again. I know if I would have gone it would have been ugly. Thank you for the morning after and not gambling. I am curious what kind of things trigger your thoughts and have you noticed if you wait it out those thoughts are usually gone and you are so thankful you didn't do what your thoughts wanted you to do.
1. Seeing money in my bank account
2. Playing slot games on my ipad
3. Talking about gambling (my extended family does this a lot)
4. Having an F the world attitude.
5. Driving by a casino
There is not a day that goes by that I think about it. I read everyones post in the morning and it makes me think about how fortunate I am not gambling. So, even though I think about it, I do not act on it because I know the consequences. I think I am going to now have to take alcohol out of the mix, which makes me sad because I enjoy a beer/wine or two. If I could just stop with that I would be fine. Funny during gambling my statement "if only I could stop with $100.00 and we know that never happens right? at least for me it wouldn't.
My triggers:
thoughts of gambling, which I am not killing right away and letting progress;
unwillingness at times not to look deep inside of what actually (emotions wise) triggering a need to escape the reality;
having money in my account; driving by casino;
hearing stories about people gambling recently, especially winning;
some advertisings on it;
dwelling on a past memories how "good" was it;
not checking in on DS on time;
skipping GA meetings;
lying to myself, being dishonest even in little things;
being broke (no money);
physically and mentally tired, and many more...
Name it, and it will make me wanting to go to casino to gamble. You know why,!?
because I am fucking compulsive gambler with impulse control problem, co-dependency and PTSD.
And it is not a shame. I am glad to be aware and self-aware person and know where I should and should not be at any present moment (and not just physically).
Love, Vicky
I was going to say most of what you said, so I won't repeat, but the main thing is that once we're compulsive gamblers, ANYTHING can be a trigger. What may be a trigger today is not what would be one tomorrow and what isn't today may be tomorrow. As Vicky said, it's imperative to be self aware and have a plan to get past them and support to help you get past them. Get out of yourself and reach out before you go out!
Jay
I have to watch out for TOM
T=Time to go
O=Opportunity, When my husband doesn't know
M=Money. If I have cash it makes me want to go really bad. I had to set my debit card set at 20 cash daily, that way I cannot use the ATM at all. I have to go to the bank for cash.