In this section, people talk about their recovery journey and provide messages to others who are experiencing difficulties.
They describe their experiences of gambling recurrence when they tried to stop. Many describe a turning point in their recovery journey.
People talk about their experiences of telling people about their difficulties with gambling and the different barriers that they put in place to stop themselves from gambling.
People talk about their experiences with different types of treatment and support services. Many describe the importance of support from others with lived experience.
People describe how recovery is a long process that continues beyond stopping gambling. It involved rebuilding their sense of self and connecting with others.
Contributors share their messages for people experiencing gambling difficulties.
You can navigate through peoples’ experiences by using the toolbar or by clicking on the links above.
It was like, “Thank God it’s out in the open now,” because I felt deep shame that I was keeping it from her and I knew deep down this is only going in one direction. This isn’t going to end well for me and I’m jeopardising this new relationship I’ve got and if I don’t get help where is this going to end?
I play 11-a-side football, and I just love football, I would play it every day if I could. There’s a team based around recovery, so basically, everyone on the football team is in recovery, whether that be doing drugs or gambling. We call them barriers, when you give your cards up and stuff like that, it’s like it’s just another barrier for me being in a group, and it’s so nice.
What I would say, was you are not a bad person, you’re just someone that’s unwell. You need to draw a line under everything that’s happened before. You’re never going to get the money back. That money is never going to come back to you. The only thing you can do is try and move on from that.