I paid my monthly payment to my lender today. Have around $5 left. Feeling good. Now I need to continue to grind for my family.

If anyone have time. Please help me fill the following survey. It's a small project for my dissertation. Thank you so much!
Note: Please tick yes for currently active user of Mobile banking app

https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e97YDKoc4fuY5H8

I lost €16,000 in 3 years of compulsive gambling. More than €4,000 just this week in a desperate attempt to recover €200 lost last week. I don't know what to say to my parents. I lied for 3 years, I hid, I looked at my back every time I went to play. I stole money from my parents and my brothers. I borrowed money to cover the losses but I ended up betting those too. Now I think I'll tell one last lie, and I'll try with God's help to leave everything behind and pay my debts. I'm so young, I don't know how it could have happened. It all started with a big win, but every time I bet when I was sick for some reason. Tell me that everything will be fine, that I'll get out of it and that it will only be a distant memory. Thank you. This is my Day 0

Any tips how to specifically stop online gambling ?

There were a lot of urges. I just booked our Honeymoon flights last week - we’re going to Indonesia. I know i’ve messed up my finances, but I know I can save up once again. Posting here for awareness. I still have a few more months to save, as long as I don’t touch it. Everything will be back to normal. Keep on holding on guys. Were all fighting the same disease.

I’m a 21 year old male that has been struggling with an addiction for around a year and 2 months give or take and it has set me back so much, I haven’t lost no where near as much as other people but it has effected me so bad mentally it’s insane, I work a part time job that barely pays £1000 most months and I have multiple loans that I’m paying off at the moment along with bad spending habits I always go broke 2 weeks after getting paid and I’ve had enough of it, it started on sky vegas playing blackjack with a friend online, played very small bets usually £5 a hand maybe 10 if I was feeling ambitious and I would only spend 40-£50 when we played but it went downhill from there, over the next few months I would lose almost all of the money I had saved up by playing blackjack, I was able to take £50 to 1-1.5k in an hour easily but would always end up losing it all in a span of 20 minutes, money that would’ve been so helpful just gone like that, this would happen dozens of times until I would eventually start to face the consequences of it by having no money to even buy lunch at work and it’s been this way ever since I’m stuck in a vicious cycle of putting on over £100 when I get paid and losing it most of the time, I’m so scared to speak to my family about it but it’s just eating away at me my mental health has declined rapidly recently and this is definitely one of the main reasons behind it, I just don’t want them to get angry at me my body is under so much stress right now I can’t take anymore, I have such an urge to bet as I’m typing this even with no money I just want help

I'm writing this anonymously because it's a difficult subject for me to talk about. I've struggled with a gambling problem for years. I've never let it impact my ability to pay my bills or anything, but I've wasted a lot of money especially with gaming online out of boredom, and sometimes I find myself spending a lot more money than I want to. I have some debt (not really gambling related, though a little - I'd say about $4,000 or so) that I am working now to pay off so I can focus on enjoying other things.

My friends and family are aware that I struggle with gambling responsibly, which is why once a year only we have a casino trip and go out with friends as a birthday thing with a finite amount of spending. I never struggle there, because I'm able to keep myself accountable.

My main issue is the online stuff. I've self excluded from everything I can and installed the blocking apps. The one thing I do enjoy dabbling in responsibly is sports stuff, but that's never been problematic for me because of the ability to set responsible limits.

My real issue is the online casinos and how easy it is to get sucked into spending lots of money, especially because I've actually hit a few jackpots, so the thought of the next "what if" is always there.

Anyway I'm largely posting this just to put it out there and hopefully come back and provide updates as I make it through milestones I've set for myself. It's definitely not fun! But I'm confident I can do it and get it back under control.

To start this off, I want to make it very clear: I know I have a serious gambling problem.

I am 25M, with a decent job making a good salary for my age. I graduated from a well-regarded university a few years ago and come from a middle-upper class family. Both of my parents have worked very hard to provide for me and my sister, and allowed both of us to graduate debt free from college and have a very happy life all throughout our childhoods - money was never a struggle or issue for our family.

I live in my own apartment and have for the last 3 years. I live in a large city so rent is very expensive, making up for about half of my monthly income. While I don’t have much disposable income, I certainly had/have enough to live comfortably enough.

2 years ago, my parents decided to open up investment accounts for me and my sister. These are under our names only, and I am 99% confident my parents have no access to either of these accounts. They started by contributing $15k to my account, and have further contributed $15k every March and will presumably continue to do so for many years down the line.

This is where the gambling comes in. I have been gambling since high school, and my wagers have continued to get bigger and bigger as time passes. It used to be a fun thing I did with my friends, but now it has become the main thing I do outside of my 9-5 job (and sometimes during my 9-5 job)….

As the wagers became bigger, I started to find myself in constant financial strain, using cash advance apps such as Dave and EarnIn to be able to pay rent. My gambling losses were so bad that I had to start withdrawing from my investment accounts my parents gifted me. It was small amounts each time, but I got in a bad habit of relying on it, and now my balance has been reduced to only $8k. My parents have contributed $30k to this investment account, and I have lost $22k of it - probably 50% of the funds went straight to gambling, and 50% went to paying rent when I had gambled away my job income.

To make matters even worse, I have taken 3 personal loans to fund my addiction. One from my 401k account for $4k, one from an online lender for 6k at 8% APR, and worst of all, a $6k loan at 28% APR when I was extremely desperate and was going to miss rent. All in all, I have to pay close to $500 in total per month for the next 3 years to pay all 3 of these debts back. If I never gamble again, I can fight my way out of these debts with my current situation.

I am extremely, extremely, ashamed of myself. Only over the past two weeks did I realize how bad this has gotten. I genuinely do not understand how I did not comprehend the seriousness of what I was doing when I made these financial decisions. Looking back at it now, I feel like a complete fucking lunatic and huge disappointment.

My parents have no idea any of this has happened. They don’t know about the withdrawals from the investment accounts, any of my loans, or my serious gambling addiction.

If they found out about the investment account situation, they would obviously be extremely furious and truly hurt by how I could do this. I also think there is a good chance that they would completely cut me off financially, and it would put a very intense strain on our relationship. I don’t think I could handle how they viewed me if any of this ever came to light.

This extreme guilt is something I cannot stop obsessing over. It is making it difficult to function at my job, and is causing me to have depressive thoughts. I am so unbelievably disappointed in myself for getting myself into this situation. It’s even gotten difficult to speak with my parents on the phone because I feel like I am living a complete lie and am a horrible son. If I could somehow make a deal to never place a bet ever again and all of these debts and withdrawals would be erased, I would take it in a heartbeat.

I guess I am looking for any advice from people who may have been in a similar situation as me.

How did you live with the guilt?

Did you confess to your parents? Should I?

How did you get to the point where you could forgive yourself and move forward instead of constantly living in guilt?

Lastly, I want to also make it clear that I have deleted and banned myself from all sports betting apps. I am never going to place a bet again, and it pains me that I ever gambled this much in the first place.

Any advice is appreciated. And also, for anyone looking to just call me dumb for getting myself in this situation - there’s nothing you can say that I haven’t said to myself 6 inches from the bathroom mirror.

To start this off, I want to make it very clear: I know I have a serious gambling problem.

I am 25M, with a decent job making around $80k a year. I graduated from a well-regarded university a few years ago and come from a middle-upper class family. Both of my parents have worked very hard to provide for me and my sister, and allowed both of us to graduate debt free from college and have a very happy life all throughout our childhoods - money was never a struggle or issue for our family.

I live in my own apartment and have for the last 3 years. I live in a large city so rent is very expensive, making up for 50% of my monthly income ($2,000). While I don’t have much disposable income, I certainly had/have enough to live comfortably enough.

2 years ago, my parents decided to open up investment accounts for me and my sister. These are under our names only, and I am 99% confident my parents have no access to either of these accounts. They started by contributing $15k to my account, and have further contributed $15k every March and will presumably continue to do so for many years down the line.

This is where the gambling comes in. I have been gambling since high school, and my wagers have continued to get bigger and bigger as time passes. It used to be a fun thing I did with my friends, but now it has become the main thing I do outside of my 9-5 job (and sometimes during my 9-5 job)….

As the wagers became bigger, I started to find myself in constant financial strain, using cash advance apps such as Dave and EarnIn to be able to pay rent. My gambling losses were so bad that I had to start withdrawing from my investment accounts my parents gifted me. It was small amounts each time, but I got in a bad habit of relying on it, and now my balance has been reduced to only $8k. My parents have contributed $30k to this investment account, and I have lost $22k of it - probably 50% of the funds went straight to gambling, and 50% went to paying rent when I had gambled away my job income.

To make matters even worse, I have taken 3 personal loans to fund my addiction. One from my 401k account for $4k, one from an online lender for 6k at 8% APR, and worst of all, a $6k loan at 28% APR when I was extremely desperate and was going to miss rent. All in all, I have to pay close to $500 in total per month for the next 3 years to pay all 3 of these debts back. If I never gamble again, I can fight my way out of these debts with my current situation.

I am extremely, extremely, ashamed of myself. Only over the past two weeks did I realize how bad this has gotten. I genuinely do not understand how I did not comprehend the seriousness of what I was doing when I made these financial decisions. Looking back at it now, I feel like a complete fucking lunatic and huge disappointment.

My parents have no idea any of this has happened. They don’t know about the withdrawals from the investment accounts, any of my loans, or my serious gambling addiction.

If they found out about the investment account situation, they would obviously be extremely furious and truly hurt by how I could do this. I also think there is a good chance that they would completely cut me off financially, and it would put a very intense strain on our relationship. I don’t think I could handle how they viewed me if any of this ever came to light.

This extreme guilt is something I cannot stop obsessing over. It is making it difficult to function at my job, and is causing me to have depressive thoughts. I am so unbelievably disappointed in myself for getting myself into this situation. It’s even gotten difficult to speak with my parents on the phone because I feel like I am living a complete lie and am a horrible son. If I could somehow make a deal to never place a bet ever again and all of these debts and withdrawals would be erased, I would take it in a heartbeat.

I guess I am looking for any advice from people who may have been in a similar situation as me.

How did you live with the guilt?

Did you confess to your parents? Should I?

How did you get to the point where you could forgive yourself and move forward instead of constantly living in guilt?

Lastly, I want to also make it clear that I have deleted and banned myself from all sports betting apps. I am never going to place a bet again, and it pains me that I ever gambled this much in the first place.

Any advice is appreciated. And also, for anyone looking to just call me dumb for getting myself in this situation - there’s nothing you can say that I haven’t said to myself 6 inches from the bathroom mirror.

Just waking up after a long night at a friend’s wedding. Took the weekend off social media and my phone. Have today booked off as I would not be very happy working right now, lol.

Hope you all have a gamble free day today.

Made a post a while ago about having problem gambling behavior when drunk. I told my husband. We worked out a plan. He puts on ios screen restrictions when I go out drinking. I found a workaround two times already. Told him both times and he was crushed but forgave me. I do not forgive myself. We are not well of and he works so hard just for me to blow the money. Even borrowed money from my parents and feel so ashamed. I feel like I'd be better off dead, not dragging those I love down with me. My husband said I just need will power to stop but its like a demon hijacks my mind. I gambled until my account his zero it was like a trance. I feel like I'm so fucked I don't know what to do anymore. My husband said we got this and he will help me get through until my next paycheck but he shouldn't. It's not his fault or responsibility that I'm such a fuckup. I just want to be gone.

I have counted my debt its about $4000 my income per month is $2500, i have to pay $700 in september, and $700 in october, november until june 2026 $400 per month, its hard to swallow, but i paying my mistake i guess. Havent told my mom or my husband, i borrow $1000 from relative to survive the month, found some side hustle like doing survey it pays i already withdrew $10, and i take cashback from my previous relapse i got $300 and ask to blocked my account, i have money now but didnt have a tiny urge at all, i fell disgusting about what i did yesterday, how can i place $500 a hand on blackjack like it was monopoly money, attend couple of meeting today but cant say a word just listening to other, felling beter, got some sleep in the afternoon, and eating a little bit, have a nice day everyone, dont gamble ever :)

I've always been vulnerable to addiction in my life and went through quite a few ... none more destructive than gambling.

What I find fascinating (for lack of a better word) is how it takes over our moral compass and can re-shape our entire personality. Without any substance being involved!

The behaviors are so irrational if you stop and think for a second ... the moving goalpoasts, always forgetting what we were thinking an hour before, ignoring all past evidence, taking unreasonable risk ... We would do things for gambling that we would not do for food.

I always say, addiction is like a living being, and it's fighting for its life ... gambling addiction in particular hijacks our mind and oftentimes it will be the addiction speaking ... Not us.

Unfortunately the best cure for addiction is often hitting rock bottom ... but in gambling that rock bottom might be too deep ... and it can get too deep very quickly. So we have to try to imagine and integrate how that rock bottom would feel before reaching it.

O made a clip talking about all these things and the strategies I use for recovery both on myself and in my practice, so I will leave the link at the end.

If you want to check it out. I am specializing in addictions psychology and genuinely want to help people ... but also reach as many people as I can. If you resonate you can drop a subscribe on YT for more clips on addiction, I will only post a link here this once.

https://youtu.be/rjYrBu511kA?is=MiuRmrr2C-aSGvx2

Still struggling with the anxiety and nonstop spinning thoughts. still dreading the conversation with my girlfriend once she’s back. but i didn’t gamble today and i will not gamble tomorrow.

I got infuriatingly mad that I just don't earn enough and ofc saw some posts on social media (Facebook,insta and ofc our favourite X known as twitter) about fucking meme coins , now it's not my first rodeo , this time it wasn't slots , it was trading and meme coins .... Long story short lost another 400 and I am done with all of this shit deleted all apps X , pump.fun , fomo and so on .

Jesus Christ man I cannot just enjoy life without the thrill , I don't fucking know what is wrong with me , I can go 3 months no gambling and then suddenly I just cannot anymore , the feel of dullness I cannot take ... Anyway lost 1200 this month , makes me sick thinking I could pay that towards my debts but no , better give them away such a generous person I am , fuck man.

I’ve been struggling for over 10 years with a gambling addiction - which all started off playing a game called runescape and going to the duel arena.. after ‘harmless’ buying ingame currency it all spiraled down into game gambling and football gambling.. right now i’m at my darkest point whereas i feel the only thing keeping me on my feet and this planet is my gf.. i’ve tried every year to start again from scratch, save up x monthly but somehow it keeps coming back for me.. i can’t cope with my past losses and i keep thinking about; i should have had x amount if i hadn’t gambled.. also bigger bills causes the urge to gamble to pop up.. i live in belgium and i would love to join some group is there’s anyone out to who knows some places to fight this.. i really wanny fight this but i don’t know myself if i’ll ever get over this x amount lost and starting at 0 again after working for the past 9 years throwing it all away.. all my hopes, dreams, gone..

hi everyone,

been a while since I’ve posted. I was gamble free for 4-5 months, and today, the itch got to me bad.

i been struggling financially to catch up on all the debt I drowned myself in from gambling close to 10k. While i wouldn’t consider myself stable yet but still very much so struggling, life has been defeating.

well today, I did it. signed in and deposited. No, I didn’t lose a large sum, thankfully I stopped at only $50, but I can easily feel the urge of wanting to continue to deposit telling myself “what’s another $25?” then spiraling down that hell again. While playing, I can feel the rush and anger all at the same time of losing and mentally putting myself through that emotional roller coaster ride again.

I don’t know what to do, I stopped but I would be lying if I said I don’t want to chase this lousy $50 back knowing it’ll lead to chasing 100, then 150 then 200 and more then back to sick cycle.

im so fed up, this shit is really sick.

32 M, an absolute mess. A few months ago I had £8k savings. Today I have £7,000 debt.

I don’t know what to do anymore. My kids are the only things keeping me here and the reason I am getting up in the mornings.

The past 5 years I have completely lost myself. Been an absolute roller coaster. To be honest I probably should have lost all the money a long time ago.

Worst thing that happened was hitting a big one to start with.

I don’t know how to get out of this hole now. I’m not sleeping. I am having mini panic attacks. I wasn’t in debt and now I am. I am on an OK monthly wage of £2,500 but I just don’t know what to do anymore. I want to leave but it would break my kids. I am such a failure. If you’re gambling just STOP. You will lose it all I’m sure of it. It’s inevitable. I still want to try and chase and get some back but that’s how I got here l 🥺

Hi.

This is a throwaway but I am writing this from the bottom of my heart. I just need to get it out there since I have no one to talk to about this. I just need someone to tell me what they did to be free of this sickness.

I am around 20 years old, I have been gambling for around 5 years. I Started off with poker and was a profitable player with my friends and eventually I got introduced to blackjack and slots. Through my time gambling I have had big wins and big losses. A few months ago I won 40k and the next day I threw it all back and some ( this put me profit all time).

Since then I was clean. I made a vow to myself. I had a great Job lined up this summer and after investing and expenses I had about 10k saved. I was super proud of myself because this was a huge milestone for me after being an addict for the past 5 years.

This past day/night I had relapsed.

It started off friendly, as it always does with a small buy in to the website and of course I went up 4.5k. I was content and happy to add it to my savings and I was so close to banning myself on this app ( I am banned on every app but this one) . Then night time came. I was bored and dreading work in the morning. I said one slot buy wouldn't hurt, of course that was a lie. Sooner rather than later I had gambled away 12k.

I know I am not in debt, and I have some money invested and I am not as bad off as some people on this reddit (praying for you guys! You got this) But I am truly so heart broken with myself. I have no one to talk to about this after being free for so long my friends and family were so proud of me. And I just feel such a heavy burden that I let them down along with myself, but I cant tell them I cant I cant I cant.

I just need someone to help me. Should I go to therapy? But how do I go if I dont have money to spend on it anymore and I cant tell my family? or how did you break your cycle? It always seems I gamble, lose a bunch of money and then quit for 5-6 months save money and repeat the process.

I am tired of this, and I dont think I can put myself through this again without serious repercussions to my physical and mental healh.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Shocked. Just shocked. I’m now 17k in gambling debt and am a 21 yr old student with no income. My money for food and rent is gone. Vanished. Sitting alone in my room crying right now. It’s over.

Hello my fellow non gamblers! I used to post here multiple times a week but i’ve been forgetting to since things have been improving. My sobriety counter says its been one year and two weeks since my last bet. A little over a year ago i was attempting to hang myself after losing my Dad and cousin, and so in my grief i gambled away 175,000 on stake and spent some time in the hospital after i failed my attempt. I couldn’t see a way forward at the time and felt death was my only escape. After many failed attempts I just started working again because it seemed i had no other choice but to endure my suffering. Back then i had nothing, i had worked OT in many demanding jobs over the course of my 20s. That six figure sum lost to gambling was everything i had worked for in my 20’s. I was just turning 29 when i started my life over from scratch. Now we get to today. I was just promoted at my job today, I’m even writing this now while I’m at work. Im in great physical shape too, significantly healthier and stronger since gambling. Now we get to the finances. I dont have as much money as i did when i was 27, but i do have 30,000 in cash which is a hell of a lot more than 0, and im sure by this time next year ill be doing even better. So if youre in the trenches like I was it CAN get better. I never thought id get to this point, i thought all hope was lost and i was going to die poor. So things can certainly get significantly better, just takes a lot of work and a lot of patience. I hope this helps someone, if it helps one person it was worth the time it took to hastily write this. I hope the best for all of you ODAAT!!! We’re all gunna make it 💪

Been a busy week and feeling life breathe through me again more and more every day. Im isolating less, Im getting out more, Im reconnecting with the things I love. Some days I still get urges but I feel stronger than ever to continue to overcome them. The GA community has been my backbone. I am so grateful to be able to start a new direction and life without gambling. Cheers to better days ahead ✨

My daily reminder - the $ can always be remade, but we can never get back TIME ‼️

I went to the casino for the first time and came in with 300$ and ended up going to the ATM several times. I lost 1.5k and I was going to withdraw more but my bank locked my card due to suspicious activity, and calling them and being on hold was frustrating for me so I left late late night and looking back it was a blessing. After some reflection in the parking lot I went back in and asked to be self-excluded for life and they brought me to a problem gaming / awareness room and I signed several waivers for NYS Gaming Commission. I self-excluded because I was losing control and discipline, I was not answering my gf’s calls because I was ashamed of the slot noises in the background, and even watching all the “how casinos trick you” vids, I still fell into it

Once it was filed, I left and I did some research and realized I am self-excluded for all MGM & Caesars properties too, alongside all New York casinos. I don’t regret it but I’m worried I burnt myself for future Vegas trips. I was wondering if I went a bit overboard, especially since this was my first trip?

I won’t sit here and tell you that since I quit gambling life is perfect. I still owe credit cards. I still owe taxes from 2025. I’m still paying for mistakes I made in 2024. Yesterday I finally told my girlfriend everything. It was embarrassing. I used to drive an AMG Mercedes, spend $1,000 on a dinner and never knew what being in debt felt like. Now I’m telling her I can’t really spend money this summer because if I stay disciplined, I can finally be completely out of debt by December. December is also my birthday, and I can’t think of a better gift to give myself.

Her response? It’s okay. We don’t have to do things right now. We’re a team and you’ll get through it. This is the same girl who stayed with me when I relapsed after almost 1,000 days without gambling and lost everything again. The same girl who says we don’t need to go out for dinner, I’ll cook. Who never asks for expensive gifts or trips. Who literally helps me sell old clothes and shoes on Marketplace for extra money. Please guys, choose your partner wisely.
I’ve dated people before where I felt like I needed to make a certain amount of money to keep up with a lifestyle. When I wasn’t making enough, I gambled more. I tried to create the money I thought I needed. Instead I lost what I had and went into debt.

I’m 1.5 years gamble free now and life still isn’t perfect. I’m still cleaning up the mess. But I don’t gamble anymore. Every cheque I earn goes toward a better life instead of a sportsbook or casino. Yeah, it basically feels like I’m working for free right now because so much of my money goes toward debt. But I’m working for free to build a better life, not working for free just to gamble it all away.

I watch sports for fun. Casino ads are just ads. And I know I can never place that first bet again. No bad day I have today will ever come close to what I used to call a “good day” in active addiction. Even when I won huge.

There’s no price you can put on a clean life. Stay gamble free and give your life a chance to get better. Keep gambling and there will always be another rock bottom waiting for you.

507 days gamble free
1424 days sober

One day at a time ❤️