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stephann posted an update 5 years, 2 months ago
Hi.I just joined this chatroom in hopes someone can help me.I cannot stop gambling ive been gamblong for over 30 yrs im 42 now.I started when the mass lottery started sending out free scratch tickets in the mail when i was 13 yrs old.Fast forward 30 yrs ive been spending my entire pay check on lottery tickets i feel like their is no end to this.Very depressing.
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Stephan, yes you can stop. There is someone in the chatroom more often than here. There is help for you. We can help point the way. Once you make a step to stop, you can find the resources and knowledge you need. There are activities and practices you can use to beat this.
Thanks.Ive been to ga many times and i keep going back to gambling.I have my own business make good $ but spend it all on lotto tickets.My mom works w/me everyday and she has a gamb prob as well i ask her to stop but she wont.Hard to sleep at night and function the next day.
It can get a grip on our minds. Remember, it reinforces gambling related pathways that have been burned/reinforced by gambling. Even the thoughts can do it. If you want to stop the cravings, do not reinforce the pathways. Start redirecting your thoughts. Do this when the thoughts start and through neuroplasticity, you have started to reprogram your brain. Being around gambling makes it tough, because those pathways can be reinforced below the conscious level. Best to try to separate gambling from your conscious thoughts and realize that subliminally, seeing the gambling activity around you is triggering those pathways. This makes is more challenging for you, to be sure. Map out your strategy and you can do it. Hardwired Happiness is a book that deals with how to control your thoughts and reprogram it day by day, customizing your thought patterns based upon what is troublesome for you.
Thanks.I agree it has really for a grip on my mind.I find mo enjoyment in anything in life i honeatly cant even say what i like to do because i dont no that answer.I need to stop though.Everything around me is neglected..Im in such dept qith credit card cash advances i dont no howbto get a handle on it.
Im tired of the thoughts of gambling..Im a slave to it.
Take a step to accept those thoughts and let them sink in and realize that they are just thoughts. Then plan what you will do the next time gambling thoughts try to hijack your thought train. Don’t let them circulate in you head for more than 15 seconds. Plan to start thinking about a starry night, petting an animal, being with your loved one, breathing vital air (that is a very good one!), and realizing that you are all right right now. When you feel good about something, reflect on it and soak it in. In the future that feeling is available to you anytime your mind might want to dwell on gambling. If you don’t want to do it, then stop training your mind to rehearse it. Start a new thought pattern the moment gambling thoughts resurface. Recognize them, but realize you can make them weaker and weaker by overwriting them with your desired thoughts. That book explains it pretty simply and even has some charts to suggest where to go with your thoughts depending upon the particular negative emotions that are arising at a given time.