While some people can stop gambling on the first try, many relapse. Sometimes they relapse multiple times before they feel confident that they will not gamble again.
Gambling is established in how their brain functions and what they use to cope. This means it is easy for their gambling to start up again. People may relapse when exposed to gambling or gambling advertising, or if they are under stress.
A crisis period or stressful situations prompts some to start gambling again. For example, the death of a loved one, relationship breakdowns, or stressors at work, trigger some people to relapse.
I felt left and alone and isolated. So, the gambling kicked in again because I couldn’t deal with the reality of what life was throwing at me again. No more than I could cope with it before. I think with life’s shit that happens, to me, it was like a tsunami of emotional turmoil that through, you know, manifested into the gambling in the first place. And the same emotional toil that I couldn’t, my brain just couldn’t compute anymore would throw me into, you know, relapses.
During the Covid-19 lockdown period some people relapsed. They felt isolated and bored during this time and this led them to gamble again.
Some people must contend with gambling still being a part of their everyday activities. Like in their working environments and social circle. Some say that this exposure to gambling in social situations has led to relapses.
When people try to stop gambling, they are faced with multiple gambling advertisements. This is often unavoidable. For some this has triggered them to start gambling again.
But then obviously lockdown, the shops had to shut and there was no way I really wanted to continue that because there was nothing to do. I was stuck in the house. They started having sport on the telly. They started playing football again and again all the adverts start, and I just wanted to just do what I did before. Just have a bet and it was fine. So, I thought I’d be able to do that and I’d found a loophole where I was sort of able to go around [block] and start betting on my phone
Compared to anything else, it’s horrible. It’s the worst thing ever. And it’s so readily available. It’s like there’s no hiding from it. It’s like you just can’t. Every time you turn on the TV, the radio, it’s just everywhere at the moment. It’s just, there’s just no escape from it. And yeah, it’s like, it’s like living in hell. Honestly, it’s horrible. It’s not nice, but yeah, hopefully it’s behind me now. But yeah, I know I’ll always have this battle.
Others have continued to receive offers and promotions from gambling companies.
For some, the barriers they used against easy access to gambling or the money to gamble with are no longer in place. For example, a blocking tool has expired. Or they may have opened a new gambling account with a company they have not self-excluded from.
After stopping gambling for a period, some people feel ready to have ‘only one bet’. This leads them to start gambling heavily almost immediately.
Needing more
Some people describe their “heart not being in it” when they initially try to stop gambling. Some aren’t ready to stop. Some have only stopped because of encouragement or pressure from others.
Some people have said that putting blocks in place is not enough alone for them to stop gambling. They need help with the underlying root cause of why they are gambling.
I deleted the apps on my phone and this sort of stuff, and putting some tools in place which I’d recommend. I’ve done that for a bit basically. Then the counsellor, I remember saying that’s the easy bit. But again, at the end of the month I got paid and straight away I just gambled. That month it just went, and that was it.
She literally gave me my bank card back. I started gambling again. She was touch or go whether to end it, because she was like, “How am I supposed to trust you now?” I said, “I’ll suffer any punishment, whether you want to break up with me, whatever, I’ll suffer it and I’ll take it,” but I didn’t get the… It’s all right taking a bank card off a gambler, but it doesn’t solve what’s up here. It sounded like I was probably making excuses, but I said to her, “I didn’t go to any GA meetings, I didn’t see a doctor, I didn’t do nothing. You just took the bank card off me, and I carried on with life when I should have got all this help.” What I’m getting now, mainly just GA, and I just said to her, I said, I’ll go GA.