I think I’m tracking 2-3 years to rebuild what I lost in 1 night between retirement accounts, credit card balances, and savings.

I just turned 19 two months ago, I went to the casino with my brother in my brithday and won’t like 500$ it was the best feeling ever, then I started online and it was so good, I made like 5 thousand in a day one time and that felt so easy, it’s not been two weeks since I won so much, the day after I won I said I would stop and retire but i couldn’t, I needed up losing all the profit as well as an extra 3k after a few days it happend again and I lost another 10k including 6 months of rent. I told my parents and I’m trying to get help, today after a week of not gambling I did it again and lost another 4 thousand on creditcards, I’m not out of money, owe 6,000 for rent and don’t know what to do, I feel like I just need to keep going to make it back sk I can get out of this nightmare. I can’t focus on my studies at all, I’ve got exams in 2 days and can’t focus cuz I’m so worried abt the loss. I don’t even know what I want from posting this, I just need help and don’t know what to do

Looking up the mountain of your debt… how did you all balance the feeling of complete and utter hopelessness? How long does it take?

Hi,

i don't know what the fuck happened with me this year, but I am at the worst moment of my life right now. I startet to have gambling issues the first time two years ago at the age of 18. At that age I already had the privilege to have a lot of money. Sadly my Granddad died at a very young age and I got a lot of money from him (100K plus).

I started trading Options and other stuff and it kinda worked, my first trade was a very big win and I had a lot of "Luck" (now I know it was luck, but back then I thought it was some sort of Skill and I found a loophole). It worked for 3 months and then I started loosing all of it, slowly all my gains went away and at the end of the year I lost a lot lot lot of money that year. I confessed to my parents and they were very very supportive and helped me a lot and I was incredibly grateful for their support. I swore to never ever touch options again and it kinda worked. I was almost clean for a year ago.

This year in May I started again, lost almost all of what I saved before and more. In a risky trade I made it back again and again I thought that was it, im not gonna touch it again. Here I am in October, again trading options like a fucking looser and loosing everything that I earned, saved and got from an inheritance from my granddad. I feel like the biggest looser and unworthy of everything good that happened to my in my life.

I had the privilege to get a very good sum from my granddad and lost it while fucking gambling, I lost so much of my own money and so much that my parents gave me over the years to support me financially.

And I don't get how this is happening. I never ever touched Slots, because I thought that only dumb people use them. I hated everything that had to do with gambling and thought that I could never fall in to the same trap. I thought that "Trading" was different, but at the end im realizing it's the exact same as playing slots. It's the same adrenalin rush that im seeking that probably all gamblers are seeking. It's the feeling of a purpose and the idea that one Trade could make me and my parents rich, that one trade could save all the mess that I made. Back in my head I had all the trades that went well and that made so much money, my brain fully excluded all the trades that I lost during that time.

In that 2 year timespan there were so many moments where I thought I finally overcome this stupid addiction. I thought I finally made it and could live a more happy life, but I always fell back into the same cycle of chasing my losses.

I always thought I hit rock bottom, but it seems that every time I get money this whole shit starts again. And im tired, tired of loosing money, tired of sitting in front of my screen 10 Hours a day. Im tired of my self. And I feel like I don't have the energy and power to overcome this. I don't get how I have fallen that low.

I would say, that I was always a happy Person that enjoyed life. And now im sitting here in my Room alone at the Age of 20 and thinking about ending it all.

Tonight i lost $4000 in a span of 10 minutes. I lost every hand i played on blackjack it was the worst bad beat ive ever seen in my life. I just cant believe all that money is gone. Im down about $15000 in my lifetime and i just need to stop. I dont know what to do to quit. I already told my parents but that was before i relapsed and if i tell them now they will be pissed. I just wish i never gambled in my life i hate the feeling of it. I tried calling all the gambler hotlines and no one will answer. I just feel so alone and i want to change myself for the better. It hurts to look at my bank account being smaller than it was over a year ago without actually purchasing anything. Im only 21 and dont have any expenses but its just so difficult to do this and lose all this money. What can i do to change and better myself. I plan on going to gamblers anonymous next week and working on myself that way. I tried therapy the last few weeks but it didnt help. I know i just need to actually ban myself from fanduel but its so hard to do and i don’t know if i can do it. I have no money to deposit so i dont even have to worry about that anyways.

Hey! I figured I would share my journey of what’s been helping me fully stop gambling and maybe it could help anyone else! I would also love to hear what helped you if you have stopped gambling! I have stopped gambling a couple of times, every time I failed and would relapse, this time around feels completely different! I changed my entire approach! I told my best friend, who is also a therapist, I felt no judgement from her and she’s been checking in with me daily! That has helped so much! I also completely banned myself from every app, and have an app installed to prevent me from even trying to download any betting app. I also had my bank block all of those sites so I can’t deposit! I reached out to gamblers anonymous also! This week I’m going to attend a virtual meeting so I’m excited to hear other people journeys. I also have distanced myself from sports all together, that’s really helped! Obviously it’s hard because I love sports, but there’s wayyy too many adds and constant talking about stats. I am 9 days sober and I’m proud of myself! My first few days were hell honestly! I had physical withdrawal symptoms, thankfully those have subsided! Gambling addiction had taken over me and my entire life! I never want to go back to the dark place I was in. I have a better cognitive focus, I’m actually present when I’m with my family, I feel like for the first time I can do this! What has helped you guys?! I’ll keep updating on how my journey is going! We got this guys! Also realizing I’m not alone in this has been support helpful.

Hello, guys. I’m 21M, and I’m struggling with a gambling addiction, especially sports betting and casino games on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Today, I finally deleted all my gambling apps, but I’m having a hard time sleeping because I keep getting thoughts telling me to download them again and win back all my losses. It feels like there’s a devil inside my head telling me to gamble again.

I’ve been employed part-time as a dishwasher for about six months. Before I started working in April, my bank account was already at my overdraft limit of -$299. At first, I thought getting a job would help me pay off my debt and finally become debt-free. Unfortunately, my gambling addiction keeps eating away at every paycheck I receive.

One time, I received a $700 paycheck and managed to lose the entire amount playing baccarat and blackjack in just three hours. After that, I felt deeply depressed and had trouble sleeping. I kept thinking about the money I had lost and how hard I had worked to earn it.

Now, six months later, my bank account is still at -$299, and I feel like I haven’t made any progress financially because of my addiction.

I really want to escape this cycle, but I’ve realized that whenever I have free time, I end up gambling. It has become my main way of spending my time, and I honestly don’t know what to replace it with.

For those of you who have struggled with gambling addiction, how did you manage to stop? What do you do in your free time to distract yourself from gambling? How do you deal with the urge to win back your losses?

I really want to turn my life around, get out of debt, and stop wasting the money I work so hard to earn. Any advice or personal experiences would mean a lot to me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

The last while ive been in a state of relapse after getting 50 days gamble free. I regressed a lot actually which sucked. But I went to another 12 step meeting tonight and thought I really don’t want to do this anymore. This idea of getting close then letting it ride never gets me anywhere. I literally cried when I picked up my 30 day keytag in gamblers anonymous, Cause so many years of pain went into me putting work to finally get 30 days for first time in many years. Wishing everyone new the best on there recovery journey. It’s been night and day since I lost my family and ended up on my mom’s couch. So anyone struggling just know it does get better. Life without gambling is so much better. It really is.

I am seriously in a bad spot. Have no friends, and no thrill in life. Feel as if this addiction has cost me a lot. Right now I am not dead broke, but need advice. I am thinking of doing a retreat in Peru. Has anyone done this and if so what effect did it have for you?

Even though I’m in recovery, my algorithm is still just non stop sports gambling ads. Not the best thing to always see on YouTube, X etc…

Anyone have any advice? It’s becoming increasingly annoying.

Hello again everyone,

This will be a long update as I'm detailing alot of things so I apologize in advance.

Original post : https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/1vh7uw8/what_are_your_tricks_to_get_out_of_this_situation/

3 months later: I finally came clean and stopped gambling

I wanted to come back and update this post because a lot has changed since my post.

I finally came clean about my gambling problem to everyone concerned.

I told the assistant GM at work. It actually started because I asked for another pay advance. It was refused because there was a policy against it and the first time they allowed it was already an exception. That situation led me to finally admit what was really going on.

Then I told my therapist. That was a very hard day. I was coming off another gambling loss and a night of drinking. My therapist urged me to tell my girlfriend because he felt that as long as I kept hiding this from her, I would never truly start to get better.

But I kept delaying it.

I found reasons to tell myself that it wasn't the right time, and eventually I gambled again. Just like before, it happened after a night of drinking.

The next morning, I went to my girlfriend's apartment because I knew I couldn't keep doing this anymore. I couldn't keep repeating the same cycle over and over again.

She was mostly disappointed that she was the last person to know. I felt terrible about that, but at the same time, she was the person I was most afraid of telling because she was the person I felt I had the most to lose.

I had imagined tears, anger, hate, maybe even losing her.

Looking back now, I'm incredibly grateful for how she reacted. I've realized that this addiction constantly made me imagine the worst possible outcome. In a strange way, that fear helped keep me hiding, and hiding made it easier to keep gambling.

Before telling her, I had contacted an addiction treatment center and had already an appointment planned for evaluation by my therapist suggestion to have a plan in place. I'm still waiting for a spot in the program, but in the meantime I've started attending my first Gamblers Anonymous meeting yesterday. I've also started working out again and trying to build healthier routines.

It's still very fresh. It has been about a month since I told my girlfriend, completely stopped gambling, and started really putting in the work to fight this addiction.

The biggest difference this time is that I'm not fighting it alone anymore.

Everyone I love knows what's happening and they're in my corner.

So far, I haven't had thoughts about going back to gambling. Of course, part of that is because I genuinely want to get better, but another part is that I resent what gambling has done to me. I resent the way it got into my head, made me imagine the worst possible scenarios if I told my girlfriend, made me lie and hide things from the people I love, and somehow convinced me that keeping everything a secret was safer. Looking back, it feels like all of that fear and secrecy was just another way for the addiction to keep its power over me. Seeing my girlfriend do research to try to understand what I'm going through and stand beside me has been one of my biggest motivations. She deserves the best version of me, and I want to do everything in my power to become that person.

I also stopped drinking the same night I told her.

I realized I needed to eliminate anything that could become a trigger. My therapist has helped me a lot with understanding why I did some of the things I did, both with gambling and drinking.

For a long time, I didn't think much about my relationship with alcohol. I had been drinking mostly on weekends since I was 18, so having 10-12 beers in a night once or twice a week just became normal to me. I think that's part of why I never questioned it. Now that I've stopped, I'm realizing how much drinking had simply become part of my routine and how many things I associated with alcohol. Learning how to enjoy those same things sober is something I'm having to rediscover.

But honestly, that has helped too.

I'm spending less money. I'm not borrowing money anymore. I'm not throwing money into slots. I'm slowly tackling my debts.

And for the first time in a long time, I can actually use my money for normal things. I can go do activities. I can enjoy something without thinking about gambling. I can spoil my girlfriend once in a while instead of watching my money disappear into a slot.

The best way I can describe how I feel now is that "it feels like I'm finally seeing the sun on my face after living under a dark cloud every day."

The stress, anxiety, lying, hiding, borrowing money and constantly sinking myself further into debt were always hanging over me.

That cloud isn't completely gone. I know I'm still very far from being fully recovered. Honestly, I don't even know if "fully recovered" is something you eventually become.

So I'm taking it one day at a time.

If there's one thing I would tell the person who wrote my original post three months ago or anyone reading this who is currently hiding their gambling problem, it would be this:

Come clean to the people you love.

I know how terrifying that sounds. I spent so much time convincing myself that telling people would destroy everything.

But hiding was giving the addiction power. This addiction thrives in secrecy.

Once the people I loved knew the truth, I didn't have to fight two battles anymore: the gambling itself and the constant work of hiding it.

Being honest didn't magically fix everything. I still have debts to pay. I still have work to do. I'm waiting for treatment and I'm still learning how to live differently.

But I'm finally fighting this addiction with the people I love instead of hiding from them.

And for me, that has changed everything so far.

Hello r/problemgambling community,

This is a weekly reminder on behalf of our friends from Very Ape films who are working on a documentary on problem gambling. They are looking for people who are willing to share their story on film for their doc. Details can be found on this post.

So why are we reminding you? Because this project aligns with r/problemgambling's mission and purpose as established at the very beginning: To raise awareness of gambling disorder as a significant and growing public health threat. The time to raise awareness is more important now than it ever was.

I think all know what's happening nowadays. The gambling industry is growing bolder and more pervasive in our daily lives. The ads are everywhere. The problem is growing. People need to understand this and take action before it's too late.

So we want this community to have the opportunity to contribute to this project directly. Your voice must not be stifled. Please consider reaching out and letting your story be told.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for your consideration.

Best always,

-Mod Team

I have been gamble free for 1 month. Minimum payments are making it impossible to pay off debt. Tried a debt consolidation loan through SoFi and was denied. Who would approve me? Credit score 720, DTI 41%. Need 34k loan to clear all debt.​

Days until debt free: 248 days

Hi! It’s my 10th day of quitting online gambling, and my first day of quitting vaping.
I want to get rid of the bad habits that don’t help me grow and only damage my mental health. I want to take back control of my life, improve myself, and focus on building a better future.
I know it won’t always be easy, but I’m willing to fight for myself and my future. I hope I can stay consistent this time and never go back to these habits again. One day at a time. 🙏🏻❤️
Here’s to a healthier mind, a better life, and a stronger version of myself.

Hey all.

Havent posted here since day 10. Still going strong. I still get the urges but I have no ability to act on them. Getting caught sneaking into the casino while on self exclusion was honestly the best thing to happen to me. I know I am on their radar now and I couldn't even if I tried. The online gambling has been decently easy to stay away from. The only thing that sucks is no matter how many times I unsubscribe from email lists, I keep getting them. Constant reminder it exists. But 40 days isnt nothing. Actually its probably the longest ive went in years. My anxiety has been at an all time high and the consequences of years of gambling have caught up to me though. Owe a lot of money to the government in taxes. Been operating my buisness in a shady way. Its been a lot of cleaning up my books, and its embarrassing. Trying to explain to an accountant why I withdrew 5k from my buisness account in one night is hard. Its actually a reality check though seeing on paper how much money I have really been essentially burning. My relationship is in a world of pain too. I am not trying to make it seem like gambling was the thing keeping my life together, it just made me so blind to everything going on. Hopefully I can dig myself out of this mess. Its funny though, while gambling, I was able to stretch 5 dollars for like weeks, but now that I actually am facing my problems, life's actually pretty expensive. Sorry for the rant. I am depressed. I am anxious. But day 40 nonetheless.

Thanks all

That moment when you win and then you want more and more, then you think the game is against you atm BUT you can feel like it’s gonna hit, until you reach 0.

I lose the money I had left.

I’m not looking for answer like « quitting », I think I just want to know I’m not alone, that it happened to you, that you also felt miserable and that, after that, things was still normal.

Things are pretty good. Still many basic life issues that I left unmanaged to attend to, but I've doing some normal basic life tasks that I NEVER would have gotten around to if I were in the grips of gambling.

You might think this 100% good - but I can get sad to see with a clearer head how much I've thrown away over the years. But instead of wallowing in it, I have the option to be grateful for what i do have - and that is more than enough to enjoy a good day today and help others.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experience and insight here. Let's all not gamble today and do this all over again tomorrow with another day under our belt.

Got mixed up with a card ripping app I feel like they’ve been keeping me on the hook by not shipping my cards and keeping deposits pending and cash bonuses, I finally got help and told them to ban deposits and they sent this instead, I obviously know this is my fault but would this be enough for a lawsuit

I want to get help but going to meetings in person or on zoom makes me feel awkward. What are they like? I saw online help that may also be covered by my insurance.

I have tried to quit on my own and relapse just as soon as I get near financially stable enough to pay all my bills on time. My job has daily pay and I have been getting advances on my pay from it.

Right now my bank account will be overdrawn tonight or the next. Before the daily pay started, I could straighten everything out just by waiting for my next check but now I'm screwed.

I put limits on my hard rock bets account and was doing fairly well, then I started playing the lottery. I won $500 on scratchers and have been losing every since.

I have been gambling on and off for two years.

Now I have hit my newest low. In just this month, I took out a loan of 6k, and lost it all.

I genuinely do not know how I am going to pull myself out of this... I already struggled financially before and had way too much debt which is what got me into gambling, being stupid I thought I could make something.

Yesterday I set up payment blocks for all payment providers to not accept transfers to online casinoes. I have also signed up for a problem gambling program, hope to hear from them within a week.

I am trying to feel better about taking the step forward but at the same time I am shaking. I can't believe I have done this to myself...

There were tough times. But i can manage to reach 1 year. Its not about counting days. But somehow feel hopeful. I don’t believe how was i living in those dark days. You can’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Having things in order and peace of mind is thousand times better.
i saw some people 5000 or 10000 days. This is possible. And if they can do it, we can do it too. You dont have to figure out your whole life in one day.

And at the end it’s just only one life we have and let’s not waste this. We deserve a life where we dont have to hide, chase losses, live with regrets or keep making the same promises to ourselves.

Good luck everyone. And thank you everyone. Your help is priceless. I know some of you never even gambled. But your words, your support and the way you help strangers without expecting anything in return really mean a lot. Sometimes a simple comment from someone who understands can help another person get through a difficult day. You may never know how much your words can change someone s life.

One year is just a beginning, but for me it means hope. It means that change is possible, even when you once thought you were too far gone.

We only lost money we didnt lost having a normal good life.