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...
When I first found this site I was clean 13 days. There seemed to be a lot more posts then. I check every day I need interaction but no one is talking. I am over 60 days gf adn for the most part ok, some days are better than others, and I am surrounded by gamblers so that makes it hard. When I got to work this morning one guy told me how he won $100 on Friday and 150 on Saturday on the lottery machin. Also a friend of mine won $400 at the casino. This all bothers me. Plus I run into someone I used to play cards with at least once a week. I live in a small town and I was involved in 4 different poker games so it is bound to happen but it puts me in a funk. So anyway I wish more people were posting on here, it would really help me and I have tried to find other forums with no luck. so come one people talk to me:)
As far as coworkers and friends talking about gambling: As I got more abstinence and therapy under my belt (around 8 months abstinence) I began to be very open with others about my gambling addiction. I not only told everyone in my immediate social circle I made a long post about my gambling and the damage done on FaceBook. Now if people try to tell me about their gambling escapades I just say, Please, I don't want to hear about gambling, I am a compulsive gambler in recovery and those kind of stories are not only a trigger for me but are painful. Sometimes when someone insists on telling me their 'winning' story, I begin to tell them of everything I've lost gambling. (Including my self esteem, self worth, self respect, all passion, faith, most of my friends, house, job, car, money and nearly my life.) They usually move away from me and NEVER try to tell me their 'winning' story again.
They say "One day at a time" for a reason. In the beginning, sometimes it is more like "One urge at a time," or "One moment at a time," but it's all manageable when it's just taken one at a time. I'm now 1 year, 1 month, and 24 days clean from gambling, and it was all because of one moment at a time.
I miss when more people were on the forum as well. You can always send me a message on here, though, if that helps.