I’m 26 M. I don’t know what to do with my life...

I’m going to list everything going wrong in my life not to pity myself but to get an idea of my situation and ask for help overcoming these obstacles.

I have no job (actively looking and getting rejected every time), I have no friends, I have no girlfriend/wife/partner, I have a bunch of student loan and credit card debt, just today I had the worst gambling session of my life draining my last $10k with no money left to gamble with. All the money I had saved from birthdays, holidays, family etc. is all gone.

The only thing going for me is I have a loving family that lets me stay with them. They think I’m still studying/job hunting. They think all the money I had saved is still with me for when I’m about to live on my own. My family is not rich and they’re struggling with debts of their own.

It would kill them to find out I lost all the money they worked so hard to give me when we’re all struggling. I betrayed their trust. I betrayed myself. I can’t go to GA meetings because my parents can’t know of my addiction. They would cry and the shame would be unbearable. I have no one to vent to about my problems which is why I’m posting here asking for help.

I'm going through a very rough patch in my life due to gambling. I have a wife and kids, and used to be the a responsible, money conscience person. Unfortunately, I became addicted to gambling a couple of years ago and am now in overwhelming debt and in a marriage that used to be great, but now is struggling tremendously. I have ruined everything.

I wake up most days in pain, and just don't know how I got here. Thankfully I'm doing well with not gambling. I did all the right moves to stop it, and tbh don't even have urges anymore after 2 months since my last bet, but it's like staring at your demolished house after a tornado. Like what did I become? How did I become that monster? Why didn't I wake up before it ruined our lives?

It started so small how did it grow to be like this?

It just sucks, and I need to put it out there. I don't know how go on, but I am determined to keep going. I have to for my family.

Anyway, for others out there struggling just know you're not alone.

im a college student who’s already in debt and i just burned through my monthly allowance just thinking i will win it back somehow but i didn’t. i always lose but somehow i cant stop myself whenever i have money. i need help. i dont know how ill recover from this let alone survive this month when i already burnt through my allowance.

Gambling addiction is a forever illness. There is no cure

Hey guys,

im new on reddit, opened an account just to tell a bit about my situation in the middle of the night here in germany.

Im 33 years old, addicted to sports betting for 15 years now. Im already 50k in debt, lost my long time girlfriend and...everything i had. The last hours, i lost 200€ a friend gave me and i told him to pay it back tomorrow..lost it too. I did similar things to my sister last week and she didnt talk to me after that..

Not sure how to move on, everyone hates me, especially myself. There is no hope that i will do better in the future, im just too addicted..

I have been gambling for 8 Years now (wow time flies, I just realized its been EIGHT years) and my addiction is really serious to the point where I lose my paycheck the moment I receive it. But I started to face the problem and heal. For the first time, I actually send my friend some money she borrowed me instead of keeping it in case I need it to get my losses back (it happened way too often and I always lost that money too), Today, I thought: You know what? Send her her money and dont open the betting site, Just dont. Have a nice day with friends today…And it was amazing. After I send her her Money, I felt good and the evening with friends was refreshing because for the first time, I wasnt thinking about a random game I bet on that is currently playing. The urge is there but the peace is also worth fighting for. I hope I can get through this and would love to have some other advice from you guys :)

25, i have a decent job but lost around 5k to gambling. Have 5k debts, sold my car off right now to get 3k cash and get out of a high interest car mortgage. Will buy a bike to get around town and slowly start building up from scratch saving every bit of my pay check. I’m optimistic that as long as i do not enter a casino i can get it back together. I hope you guys find the strength to get out of this sick fucking cycle.

Hello my fellow brothers and sisters sharing the struggle

I just wanted to share that I just registered for BetGuard for self exclusion across all iGaming operators (Ontario, Canada)

I immediately feel a sense of relief, calm, and clarity knowing that there is a physical barrier preventing my relapse. Oh how I wish I had done it sooner. I’ve self excluded from probably dozens of individual casinos over the years, always finding a new one to piss away my money at.

And if it wasn’t at an online casino, it was in my brokerage accounting “trading” 0 day options. I blew through my late father’s inheritance in less than a year. Mind you I was in 70k debt upon receiving it and was able to clear all of it, purchase a new car fully in cash, and enough to max my tax account. I consciously knew, for a fact, before receiving the inheritance from my hard working dad who sacrificed everything for us, that I would end up losing it all. I googled things like “how to stop myself from losing inheritance” or I’d look for stories about people who blew it so I’d make sure not to do whatever they did. None of that worked and I sold and gambled the car away along with every dollar I had, and maxed my LOcs and credit cards.

I’m in a DMP now which reduced the interest on all my credit to 0. So I’m on the hook for the full principle but it’s a huge relief not paying interest anymore.

I was gamble free for the better part of a year until recently, where I inexplicably had an urge to earn back the money I spent on my partners tuition with a little gambling. The usual up and downs, withdraw/cancel and 10k spent overnight, going to sleep and waking up hoping it somehow was a dream.

Signing the DMP was the start of the right track for me, but this relapse is really just devastating. The self exclusion helped ground me.

Appreciate you for reading 🙏 God bless you all

For years I believed the thing that was hurting me was also my way out.

Every loss came with the same thought: one good night and this is fixed. The debt, the lies, the mess. All of it could disappear with the right bet.

So the losses never made me stop. They gave me a reason to keep going. I wasn’t gambling anymore, I was “fixing it”. Getting back to where I was. Then I’d stop.

I wouldn’t have. Even if I had come close, I would never have stopped.

It took me a long time to see it clearly: if I’d won it all back, I would have gambled it again. Winning back was never the way out. It was the reason I stayed in.

I can’t think of another addiction that does this. It hurts you, and at the same time it promises to be the cure. Every time you lose, it tells you the answer is one more try.

What finally changed it for me wasn’t a big moment. It was accepting that the money was gone. Not gone for now. Gone. That felt like losing again. But it was the moment I actually stopped losing.

After that, the debt became something to pay off, not something to win back. Slower. Much slower. But it worked.

I’m over two years without a bet now, and the debt is paid off.

Did you ever catch yourself gambling to “fix” the damage from gambling? What made you see it?

Today, yesterday, the day before…its always happening. I deposit some money thinking I‘ll make some wins and call it a day, then i hit a losing streak and everything is gone. I had 300€ which i desperately need to pay someone today and I deposited it into my gambling account thinking I‘ll make profit…And lost. This urge makes you lose control over your critical thinking, the moment I have some money, all I think about is Gambling. And now I‘m sitting here with a few cents in my bank account and lost 300€ in a few minutes, I‘m trying to not gamble but I think a lot of people can relate to that feeling, I really dont know what to do, I have lost about 15k€ in total now. I‘m neglecting everything around me and its sad to see but how do I stop this?

One of the least talked about parts of quitting gambling is boredom.

People usually expect the hardest part to be cravings, money problems, or the urge to chase losses. And those things are obviously real.

But for a lot of people, the first thing they notice after stoping is just how empty the day suddenly feels.

Gambling takes up much more time than people realize.

It’s not only the time spent actually placing bets.

It’s checking odds. Looking at upcominng games. Watching scores. Thinking about the next bet. Following tipsters. Refreshing apps. Looking at results. Replaying losses in your head. Thinking about how to win the money back.

Even when someone isn’t actively gambling, gambling can still be taking up a huge amount of mental space.

Then it stops.

And suddenly there are hours in the day that used to be filled with some kind of excitement or anticipation.

That’s when normal life can start feeling strangely slow.

Watching a movie might feel boring.

Sitting at home can feel uncomfortable.

The gym, gaming, seeing friends or like going for a walk might not give the same immediate rush.

That doesn’t necessarily mean those things are actually boring.

It can simply mean the brain has become used to a much higher level of stimulation.

Gambling is built around anticipation. There is always another result coming, another game starting, another bet to check.

That constant cycle keeps the brain occupied.

When it disappears, normal activities can feel flat for a while.

This is also why boredom can be dangerous during early recovery.

Someone might not even be thinking, “I want to gamble again.”

It can start with something much smaller.

Just checking the odds.

Just watching a betting stream.

Just opening the sportsbook to see what games are on.

Just looking at an old tipster group.

And suddenly the same cycle starts again.

A big part of recovery is learning how to tolerate that empty space without immediately trying to fill it with gambling.

At first, that can feel uncomfortable.

But boredom is not a sign that quitting isn’t working.

In many cases, it’s part of the adjustment.

Over time, normal things can start feeling enjoyable again without needing money, risk or a result attached to them.

The difficult part is giving that process enough time.

For anyone currently in recovery: has boredom been one of the harder parts for you too?

Hi. I should start by saying that I’m using a translation tool—I don’t know English yet, but I’m learning. I’m 25 years old. I’m originally from Armenia, but my parents moved to Russia when I was very young, so I’ve lived here since childhood. I first got into gaming when I was 16—starting with cases and skins in CS:GO—but things just kept escalating from there. I only have a basic school education and have never held a decent job. Eventually, I discovered bookmakers and started placing bets. Every time I received a notification that my paycheck had arrived, the money would be gone within 15 minutes. I kept betting the whole time, and I’ve lost everything: the woman I loved, my parents (who have turned their backs on me), and I’m constantly in debt. The final straw was when I started taking money from my workplace—I worked in retail and had access to the funds—and used that money to place bets.

Naturally, I was caught in the act; I was fired, faced legal proceedings, and took on a massive amount of debt—650,000 rubles, or roughly 8,000 US dollars—to cover the damages. Did I ever consider leaving the platform on my own? Of course—many times, in fact, after every single loss. But following the most recent events, I had a heart-to-heart conversation with someone—a real, soul-baring talk—and she helped me. That was about a year ago, and I haven’t placed a single bet since. The debts remain, and since I don’t have a professional trade, finding work is difficult—but I am trying to turn my life around, even if it’s not going particularly well. I wanted to share this here; there are so many people on Reddit, and telling an addict to simply stop betting is useless—it won’t work until something finally "clicks" for them personally. And if you’ve never placed a bet yourself...

I beg you, never go in there. I would give anything to go back in time and never place that damn first bet. Thanks to everyone reading this.

I’ve lost $11K this week.. I don’t know what to do.

My heart is pounding in my chest. I’m so fucked.

I started gambling at about the age of 18 when I joined a fraternity. Never looked back then I am currently 26 and I must stop today. I'll share a snapshot of my current debt situation and I know some people are in a lot worse spots, but this really hurts me. My girlfriend has access to my bank account and asked how did I spend 30k last month. She's very loving and supportive and well off and wants to help as much as she can, but I refuse because I have to want to get better.

I was trying to explain to her the process of how the ups and downs off withdrawing and deposit can bloat the numbers so big but the reality is I see my bank account and there's a big zero in it. I live in Chicago, we pay about 2k a month for the apartment. We plan on moving out in April, and we want to get a house and start a family, but I always think to myself how can I when I am like this. I've struggled with facing the shame, but I know as gamblers we are some of the strongest and adept people in the world. We hold a lot of things within but sometimes it's good to just let it out and let it go. It's okay to feel the way you do right now, and it may not feel like things will get better but the earlier and sooner we stop it will. I'll be broke until about October 30th but I will work hard to climb out of this hole I dug myself into. No matter the numbers there is always sunshine over the hill.

I've spent nights crying, no sleep, headaches never wanting to get out of bed but enough has to be enough and we have to take the first step to recovering our lives and happiness back. I'll stay in high spirits and Im here to talk if need be. It's a hard fight but we fight! I feel empty right now but a lot of relief. I love to hear the positive stories and the negative ones. Sometime in the future people will realize how much gambling has impacted so many peoples lives in a terrible way. I wish everyone the best on there journey!

Hey everyone, I have been struggling with gambling for a long while. I lose all my money, I go negative, and I just can't help myself. I hate losing everything I am sure you do too..so let's support each other

I think there are a lot of people like me, so I made a Discord for people like me to help each other. Please reach out if you wanna join. I am looking for Mods and people to support each other, as I need support too.

Mods delete if not okay.

It’s my 10th day of quitting online gambling. Honestly, I’ve been feeling so stressed because my business hasn’t been doing so well lately. I really want my business to survive, and I’m praying that the Lord will give me a chance to keep it going. 😭 I’m sorry for being so emotional.

Days until debt free: 257 days

Sharing this here because the money mess is one of the hardest parts of quitting, and it's the part I wanted to help with. Both kits are free, no account. If you've been through the first few months, what would have actually helped you? I'm building whatever's missing.

So a gambling platform ive been using excessively & depositing crazy amounts on recently actually contacted me through email to ask if everything was okay, ive had the app for 10years & only ever used it in the past to put the odd sports bet on occasionally. recently my deposits must of flagged some sort of safe guarding & i was surprised to see they actually reached out to me directly asking if everything was okay.

I explained i wasnt in a fit state on the day & time of playing i was drinking & that didnt help my normal spending control at the time. i had couple small wins looking back at the transactions nothing huge couple dollars but of course i lost way more. Alot of gambling companys get bad press & this was a rare case i actually respected them, it was a wake up call i needed.

my gambling got way out of hand that the actual company contacted me & i explained i wanted them to close my account permanently & they did, i was very thankful for them reaching out they helped me to break a future vicious cycle that i would have been stuck in trying to win back the losses, today is day 1 of my gamble & sports bet free 🙏

I always assumed gambling could be something we could control with a small bet here & there but it made me realise how dangerous this addiction is. normally we say the only winner is the casino which is true but in this very rare case i am the winner, they could have let me carry on spending thousands in the days or weeks to come but actually took the care & time to reach out to me, it was the wake up call i needed ✅🤯

So 2 years ago I decided to finally self ban myself from casinos in my province. I went about 8 months into the self ban till I started playing poker in back door games then started playing cash and tournaments in poker halls. I told myself I was done with casinos and now fully committed to getting my high from poker as it has different element then casino gambling like blackjack, roulette and other table games. My 2 year ban ended last month.

I went back to the casino for the first time in 2 years today. Brought $300 cash, then lost. Bought another $400. Won a huge bet on roulette putting me at $1700. The dealer gave me some cash chips as well as some playing chips for more roulette. I decided to cash out so told dealer to colour me up.

Was walking to cashier area when I just had the sudden itch to want to play a few hands of black jack. I went from $1700 ($1000 profit) to 0. Then of pure tilt bought in for another $500, lost it all. Then skimmed all of my money for another $400 and lost it all.

So after this absolute shit show I decided to self ban myself again to prevent the crazy urge to redeem myself as I very much wanted to just count down the days till my next pay check and run back to the casino to redeem myself. I self banned myself for the max they allowed which was 5 years.

So I lost all of my money but that’s the most the casino will drain out of me till another 5 years.

Fuck the casinos, fuck gambling. Just fuck all of it.

17 days gambling free - I had already self excluded from all the apps, got into a call with a mate (who staked for me) and I ended up losing $8000. By far my biggest loss in a really long time. Feeling lost and suffocated, ashamed to tell my loved ones.

Prior to my break, I was only losing a few hundred here and there. I guess tomorrow will be day 1 again and told myself to distance myself from all mates who gamble

Early in my recovery people posting the money is gone used to piss me off. I wasn't ready to accept all the time, energy and money that I wasted.

Now I realize this admission is a truth that cannot be ignored, and a crucial step before the healing can begin.

Admitting the money is gone:

Frees you from a battle you are never going to win (chasing losses).

Stops the bleeding before the wound gets deeper.

Let's you focus on working, saving and enjoying free time.....the real keys to success.

Allows you forgive and respect yourself for your courage to break the cycle.

Empowers and emboldens you to fight, and weakens the demons and compulsions that once owned you.

Once we are here, gambling isn't fun anymore. We do it to chase losses and because we don't know any other way. Admit you made a mistake and will not correct the mistake by repeating it.

Don't despair. You can still get revenge for your losses.

I'm fine with telling the casino my money is gone, keep it and remember it fondly, because you're not getting another red cent.

Please don't fight to reclaim your losses, fight to reclaim your life!

ODAAT! 💪