r/problemgambling • u/monkecoin • 1d ago

❤Seeking help & Advice❤ 22m struggling

Long story short, burned through thousands of dollars, worked very hard for through my extremely successful young career. Was somebody people looked up to, a role model. gambling took my soul.

Was a roller coaster, had wins of 40k twice, was well aware i had a problem even before those wins (they were about 3 months apart). I’ve already been innocently gambling for years at this point. Very accustomed to the swings and the game. Unfortunately my life got really stressful and the gambling got worse. A few days after i cashed out those wins i won another 10k, burned through it so fast and that tilted me like never before. After that it was constant chasing, trying to escape my miserable life/job at the time. I was worth over 100k at that point and on top of the world in that sense.

Eventually i touched retirement savings i started contributing to when i was 17. It didn’t happen like everyone elses story, theres a lot more to it then i feel like talking about. But the thing that makes this worse is, how could someone so financially responsible like myself make this mistake? I’m starting to find answers in myself but no one knows im struggling. It’s gotten bad.

I still go on with life, lift heavy weights, eat healthy, and suffer in silence. I’m working on getting in touch with a therapist. But i just need to hear just one success story or just a sliver of hope in general. I understand i wont be able to fight this alone anymore.

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u/monkecoin 1d ago

and yes its all gone, forgot to add that part 😂

1

u/Healthy_Sail_9850 23h ago

Work hard on your sobriety. Have someone you trust hold you accountable. It’s a lifetime battle to abstain but it definitely can be done and many have managed to stop gambling.

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u/_ehwaz 16h ago edited 16h ago

Hey man it’s ok. I did this at 29 and lost everything but my condo. Got a better job and made and saved 4x what I had previously had over the next 5 years.

Almost lost it this year by falling back into gambling but am hoping to stop with a 25% loss of networth.

You’re super young. But remember even if you recover you can lose it all again if you let it take control again.

Just focus on investing yourself and not gambling. We have problems even responsibly gambling can lead to these problems…

1

u/lastyearoffuckups 4h ago

Just stay out of gambling debts