Need friend now

Just gambled everything again. I need to talk to someone

Welcome Larosefanne33 ,

I am sorry that you are battling this . Please post here as often as you need to for support . You are not alone and you are not doomed to live this way . We will help you any way we can .

I quit going to GA meetings about nine months ago. For me they weren't getting anything done anymore it was the same people telling the same stories to the same people every week. The times that I really got something out of GA was when I could talk to new members if you need somebody to vent with or two I may be able to help. I have helped a couple people on my own in a more informal setting.

I remember when I was new I felt like the people in the room where harshly judging me. After two years I realized that what they were doing was telling me what I was doing wrong because they themselves have done it long too. I don't understand taking criticism from somebody who has never struggled like I have. But when the criticism comes from somebody who has had the exact same experiences I have it as much busier to take to heart. I'm actually supposed to meet somebody in the next month or so to talk to them about their problem.

These are the methods that I have found to be the most effective:

1. You need to tell somebody other than strangers on a message board that you have a problem
2. If self exclusion is an option then you absolutely have to do it. I know that this is extremely scary and I can't say that it's easy but I can't say that the minute it is over you will feel a sudden relief
3. Access to your money has to be limited you should have no access to credit cards. Ideally you would have somebody else take over your finances but that isn't always enough. You would be surprised how effective it is to go to your bank And put limits on deposit and withdrawal

-- Mon Jan 30, 2017 12:03 am --

I quit going to GA meetings about nine months ago. For me they weren't getting anything done anymore it was the same people telling the same stories to the same people every week. The times that I really got something out of GA was when I could talk to new members if you need somebody to vent with or to I may be able to help. I have helped a couple people on my own in a more informal setting.

I remember when I was new I felt like the people in the room where harshly judging me. After two years I realized that what they were doing was telling me what I was doing wrong because they themselves have done it wrong too. I don't understand taking criticism from somebody who has never struggled like I have. But when the criticism comes from somebody who has had the exact same experiences I have it as much easier to take to heart. I'm actually supposed to meet somebody in the next month or so to talk to them about their problem.

These are the methods that I have found to be the most effective:

1. You need to tell somebody other than strangers on a message board that you have a problem
2. If self exclusion is an option then you absolutely have to do it. I know that this is extremely scary and I can't say that it's easy but I can't say that the minute it is over you will feel a sudden relief
3. Access to your money has to be limited you should have no access to credit cards. Ideally you would have somebody else take over your finances but that isn't always enough. You would be surprised how effective it is to go to your bank And put limits on withdrawal amounts. You could also tear up your debit card and limit yourself to only getting money in person at a bank.
4. GA is your friend it will help more than you know I have been to rooms that were great and I have been to rooms that I didn't care for. A good room focuses on others a bad room tends to have people who want to talk and talk but never listen. We can find you a good one, you will make friends there.


In the spirit of being honest I have to say that if you think that you can quit without following these tried and true steps I would seriously doubt your commitment to your recovery. Everyone of us has quit when we didn't have any money and that is soon as we get money we justify that we're just going to gamble a little bit and we're going to control ourselves and we are going to set limits and if we win a certain amount we're going to leave and if we win we will come back for a whole week and we do this and we do this And we do this. But as we do this it leads to failure every single time.