22-08-2011, 05:14 PM
Hello Richard,
Thankyou for contacting Gamblers Anonymous (GA). It is obvious that after having a good look around you have found some hope from the site. It does sound like you are stuck in a bit of a rut. You have turned to both drugs and alcohol in the past, possibly to numb the pain? Despite managing to stop using these substances your 'process addiction' ie gambling remains and this continues to frustrate your efforts to deal with it. Despite realising something that many people struggle with - that you have a problem with gambling and not just bookies/roulette - you have been unable to deal with it yourself. Perhaps you need to ask for some help in this area? Your sentence "I am looking into local meetings and intend to go to one." is extremely positive. Have you, now, been to one? If you have, please tell us how it was for you. If you have not, perhaps this would be the next step. You will have realised that self knowledge, regarding gambling, is insufficient for you to stop. You also describe how gambling is ruining your ambitions and preventing you from leading a normal life. Have you found much else in your search for a remedy to your problem gambling? You must have had a good look at what avenues are open. Your own personal experience shows that what you have done in the past hasn't worked. If you do not change something, then things will continue in the same vein - working, gambling, losing.......... The only 'sure thing' in gambling is that the bookmaker doesn't walk home from the races! You owe it to yourself to fully investigate the fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous. To quote the 'home' page "Meetings are the most important part of GA."
For me, the twelve step fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous provided (and still does provide) experience, strength and hope. There was none of this internet (nor virtual roulette etc) when I first came to the fellowship so I had to telephone the 'information line' and there I was prompted to attend a meeting. At my very first meeting I realised that I was not the only person who behaved as I did. I was able to listen to other former sufferers and hear that they had got better. I decided that whatever else I did I would return the following week. I often look back to where I came from, but today my life is totally different and I no longer live in the past. Recovery has by no means been straightforward, but with the help of the meetings and new friends I have made in the new circles within which I move I have managed not to place a bet for quite a while now.
I hope the above is helpful. Go to a (nother) meeting.
Oh yes, I had twenty 'yes's' too when I arrived at GA and today I haven't gambled for a long time. The Gamblers Anonymous program of recovery does work.
Yours in GA unity
'Poster' David
Thankyou for contacting Gamblers Anonymous (GA). It is obvious that after having a good look around you have found some hope from the site. It does sound like you are stuck in a bit of a rut. You have turned to both drugs and alcohol in the past, possibly to numb the pain? Despite managing to stop using these substances your 'process addiction' ie gambling remains and this continues to frustrate your efforts to deal with it. Despite realising something that many people struggle with - that you have a problem with gambling and not just bookies/roulette - you have been unable to deal with it yourself. Perhaps you need to ask for some help in this area? Your sentence "I am looking into local meetings and intend to go to one." is extremely positive. Have you, now, been to one? If you have, please tell us how it was for you. If you have not, perhaps this would be the next step. You will have realised that self knowledge, regarding gambling, is insufficient for you to stop. You also describe how gambling is ruining your ambitions and preventing you from leading a normal life. Have you found much else in your search for a remedy to your problem gambling? You must have had a good look at what avenues are open. Your own personal experience shows that what you have done in the past hasn't worked. If you do not change something, then things will continue in the same vein - working, gambling, losing.......... The only 'sure thing' in gambling is that the bookmaker doesn't walk home from the races! You owe it to yourself to fully investigate the fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous. To quote the 'home' page "Meetings are the most important part of GA."
For me, the twelve step fellowship of Gamblers Anonymous provided (and still does provide) experience, strength and hope. There was none of this internet (nor virtual roulette etc) when I first came to the fellowship so I had to telephone the 'information line' and there I was prompted to attend a meeting. At my very first meeting I realised that I was not the only person who behaved as I did. I was able to listen to other former sufferers and hear that they had got better. I decided that whatever else I did I would return the following week. I often look back to where I came from, but today my life is totally different and I no longer live in the past. Recovery has by no means been straightforward, but with the help of the meetings and new friends I have made in the new circles within which I move I have managed not to place a bet for quite a while now.
I hope the above is helpful. Go to a (nother) meeting.
Oh yes, I had twenty 'yes's' too when I arrived at GA and today I haven't gambled for a long time. The Gamblers Anonymous program of recovery does work.
Yours in GA unity
'Poster' David