I’m 20 and I genuinely cannot stop gambling. I keep telling myself I’m done and then I’m back on the apps hours later. I’ve lost around 5k and it’s all student loan money. I feel sick and ashamed and out of control.
I’m not posting for pity or jokes. I need to know how people actually stopped when willpower clearly didn’t work. Did self exclusion help. Did you tell family. Did you block your bank. I’m scared this is going to keep ruining my life if I don’t stop now.
If you’ve been here and got out, please tell me what actually worked.
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If by yourself, you can’t do it, then that means you need help. Nothing wrong with that. Find help.
Tell someone you trust. Work out a plan. You may need to get a therapist that specializes in gambling addiction. You can also join support groups.
Heck just hanging around here and participating is also a form of help (although you should also have in-person help too).
Nothing wrong with getting help. If you need it, get it.
Hey my friend,
I’m 29 living in Latin America been gambling for more than 2 years and lost so much time and money. I’ve relapsed more times than I can count after telling myself “this is the last time.” Right now I’ve been clean for a little over two weeks — I’m not even counting the days anymore.
What helped me the most was this: I stopped obsessing over money. Yes, money is important. But I had to ask myself — why was I really chasing it? In my case, I wasn’t gambling for fun. I was gambling to make money. And after losing so much, I realized it would’ve been way better to invest that time and money in myself or in new hobbies.
If you can’t stop for your own sake, stop for the people who love you and want to see you do better. I’ve hurt people who still root for me, and that hit me hard.
Start that project or hobby you’ve always wanted to do — the one gambling made you postpone. Fill the time with something that builds you instead of destroys you.
For me, willpower alone wasn’t enough. I even considered myself agnostic before, but I started asking God for help. I go to church on Sundays and pray, and that’s been helping me a lot. It gives me structure and something bigger than myself to lean on.
I don’t use blockers anymore because I always found a way around them. That was my pattern. What really changed was looking in the mirror and asking:
Do I want to live like this for the rest of my life?
We only get one life. I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who gambled everything away and did nothing else.
Stay strong, brother. You’re not alone
I am mid 30s, and just relapsed again yesterday. Tried to quit sports gambling over 100 times. I do think after I lost a huge amount yesterday on cal basketball and that I now feel so sick in my mouth, that I won’t do it again. And I sure hope I don’t. But who knows?
I’m telling you all this to tell you that it’s not just willpower, it’s shutting the door quickly the second you have a thought about it. Sheer willpower isn’t enough. The unconscious knows before the conscious mind that it will gamble. It’s been proven through brain scans from studying addicts after seeing a picture of a needle or something. Anyways, I messed up because I had money in Robinhood which allows event contracts and I knew last week I should have contacted Robinhood to remove that feature if possible. But I didn’t because my unconscious figured out a way back in. My point is the second I realized Robinhood allows event contracts, I should have deleted my account after switching brokerages.
Boy, what I’d do to be 20 again, that’s when I got hooked turning $5 into $400. And I tell ya, it only gets worse. I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of $. And worse, time/ relationships, you name it. But I still believe if I quit now, I have a lot to live for. So that’s my choice now. 🙏🏽
I completely understand and JUST did the same thing yesterday! Played all day and night, had it up to $6K and kept saying to myself “cash out, cash out” but I kept going today. I gave it all back and then some! I’m sick to my stomach so many things that I could’ve used that money on!
Uh… what is the hold it has on all of us compulsive gamblers? WHY can’t some of us just stop and be done?!
I’ve been going to GA meetings and put Gamban on my phone for the free trial. But, I keep going back.
Please known you aren’t alone in this at all!! We just need to figure out the why & the how! Take it one day at a time.. I hear it gets better but the first few weeks are super tough.
If you find something that helps, please sure to share!
I’m 33M and battled my addiction for 16 years. I tried self excluding, and bet blockers like Gamban over the years but none of it worked for me.. always relapsed and kept going.
I’m finally clean now and life is so much better even though still in debt from gambling. I came clean to my wife and she demanded she start monitoring me for any gambling activity. We use a website called deucerecovery.com that does all the monitoring for her automatically. It honestly changed everything for me. For the first time I was able to fight back against any urge that came my way.. previously I would always crack no matter what, the addiction had full control. I was able play out the scenario in my head and I feared so much my wife would find out if I went ahead and tried to gamble in anyway. Eventually it gets easier to fight them off myself as time goes on, but not going to lie I wouldn’t be here right now without being held accountable. Even after a long time away I had strong urges during nfl playoffs but once again knowing my wife would find out did the job for me.
Don’t be like me and let this addiction control you past the age of 30. Dm me if you ever want to talk.
Limit ur accounts , if you can’t control yourself then you need to get help
hey i just lost a lot as well, i know how that feels. im a student an international ones. i won over 40k just to lose more than that. do u want to talk on pc or smth? cause i needed it too haha
16 years here… just quit already. we will mever ever make it… QUIT
Telling yourself to stop is a waste of time. Get rid of all disposable money, today.
Self exclude in your state, go to GA, have someone monitor your accounts, set up deuce recovery and have a trusted person monitor it, listen to podcasts. There are many ways but only YOU can be the one to make the change. you can beat this but you can’t do it alone
Self exclusion is good but restricting access to money is the only true way to detox
Wake up tomorrow and promise yourself “I will not gamble today.” Keep that promise and do the same exact thing Sunday morning. This is how miracles happen! 🌈
As long as you think there is a possibility that you might come out on top, it doesn’t matter how painful it feels. You’ll take all the pain until you realize you are at the bottom and there’s no way back. Does that sound familiar?
If you are slipping back, it’s because for that short time, your mind is telling you the rewards justify the risk.
You have to change your mind. Realize, the house always wins.
Follow the steps in this article if you want to break your gambling addiction. Hit me up in chat if you have any questions. Regards, John [https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/1pxt0at/what_happens_to_you_when_youre_addicted_to/](https://www.reddit.com/r/problemgambling/comments/1pxt0at/what_happens_to_you_when_youre_addicted_to/)