There is little recovery on this forum

Compulsive gambling is a daily/hourly/minute recovery. The brains of compulsive gamblers are wired differently, and we must constantly monitor the thought and impulses coming from our brain. There are often red flags that the addiction is winning when our thoughts take a certain turn, such as obsessing about the money gone, thinking that our gambling was really not that bad or things just got out of control for a while, feeling that are lives are lacking in accomplishment, complaining about boredom or being burdened with more than our fair share of responsibility, having friends that still gamble and talk about gambling, making mind bets and watching stock markets, point spreads, etc.

All this will ultimately lead us back to our addiction. I don't see much talk of this lately on this thread. I do see a lot of people talking about the numbers that they lost or won, something that is completely taboo at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. For this reason, I do not see a lot of recovery on this Forum. Just a lot of venting about losing.

Well , I see things this way - recovery is a process and it's different for everyone . Regrets over money lost is just part of that . I don't begrudge anyone who is mourning the loss of their hard-earned income . Face it - I think we all considered gambling to be a source of easy money at some point . It's quite unpleasant when the reality dawns on us .

There have been ( and continue to be ) many incredible success stories on this forum . From people who have put in the hard work and battled their way out of the grip of gambling addiction to those who are still in the early days but are determined to beat this disease . I can almost guarantee that a lot of those people began their stay on this forum by posting about their losses / wins . In the beginning of recovery , that's what seems to be most important to us .

It's only further down the recovery road that we begin to see that money was a very small part of a much bigger problem . The preoccupation with wins / losses will diminish with every gamble-free day but that will always be easier for some than for others .

So let's keep posting about the recovery.
The gift of clear thinking.
The reality of this addiction.

I love your reminder and people do post where they are.

There is SO much to uncover in recovery and it goes deeper as time goes by, and it all seems to make sense as time passes. The understanding increases with more discovery and time.

Things people said to me when I was just clearing "the fog" didn't really click.
But they would click today for sure.

Glad you are here and posting. Giving the gift to those who suffer, whether they are "ready" or not is big. Even if it does not change them, it WILL change you -- for the better.

I agree not looking back. There is a lot of venting, and not much positive energy aimed towards changing. It is a hard addiction to fight however and it took me years to overcome it. I guess I expected to much of this forum when in reality, it is just that. A forum. And mostly, a place for people to vent. Nonetheless I'm kind of over it and don't post much here anymore. And nor am I going to.

Some advice I will offer is if you truly want to be rich in life, don't gamble. You will have so much more, more of everything, if you don't gamble.

Recovery is a tricky word. I am a compulsive gambler who has lost 100's of thousands of dollars over the years. I have now been gambling-free for almost 3 years but am I recovered?

I would say no.

When I think of the work "recovery". I think of it in terms of a broken bone. Meaning that at one point I had a broken bone, but now it is healed and not broken anymore.

That is not how gambling works for me. My broken "gambling bone" will never fully heal, and every day I have to watch the stress that I put on it. It is a weakness that I need to be cognizant of at all times to avoid undoing the strength I have gained back.

That may seem negative and may strengthen your case of there not being much positive energy, but to me it's reality. I count my blessings every day and cherish the life that I have now, but the day I consider myself recovered is probably the day I relapse.

I feel like one of those people who are actually doing so much better nowadays, yet I admit I haven't posted here for such a long time.

If I can bring in positive energy then by all means I'd love to do that.

I love watching on Youtube "Soldiers of Self Mastery", this guy brings tons of positive energy and he is referring to gambling issues, it's very helpful.

Guys, whatever you do, sports or casino, it doesn't matter - the end of the tunnel is always a destruction, just don't go into the tunnel in the first place, it will help you.

Really feel there is a lot of positive stuff on this site. Yes, some come to vent probably. The ones that talk about how they remain GF for many days and tell us how they do it are helpful. It is helpful to read from folks that know their subject. Not getting into the tunnel is the answer. I do not believe most of us on this forum can be a controlled gambler. This is a forum about how to begin recovery. Not everyone really wants to do it. Judge not lest ye be judged is my motto. When I read some of the horror stories it reinforces in my brain why this activity is so harmful. Most of us start out slowly, but it gets progressively more destructive. Greed and adrenalin are tough foes.

PS: I put my money where my mouth is and self excluded yesterday. I will never recover either, but will try to continue to work toward it day by day. To me, it is a journey.

I find it interesting how two people can read the same forums and feel differently afterwards. People constantly tell me I'm a positive person who sees the good in everything.

In the last few months of perusing the gambling forum, I have seen many success stories here. It gives me hope that one day I can actually stop gambling. Since I've seen many members here already state they've been gamble-free for years, it assures me that gambling can be overcome.

Thank You to everyone who has shared their conquest here.