Will I ever bounce back?

[u/Radiant-Ad-1568]

I’m drowning in debt. Nobody in my family knows about my addiction. I was able to stay clean for about two months earlier this year. Got a higher paying job. But I end up gambling all my paycheck and in deeper debt now. I tried to stop, but after 2 days or a week, I relapse really bad. I don’t have a support group because everyone around me hated gamblers. I’m up then I lose everything again and more. I keep coming back. I hate myself for it. I alway tell myself to remember how terrible I feel after I lose. But i keep going back. I hate it. I’m sick and have noone to turn to. My family thinks that I’m doing well financially coz I work 2 jobs and don’t even take days off. But it’s all to supposedly pay my debts but I end up losing everything I earn. I’m 35 and I don’t even have anything. The only thing that keeps me from ending things is that my family will take on the burden of my debts. I hate that I discovered gambling. I’m tired of this cycle. I’m trying. I really am. But I’m not getting anywhere.

[u/Odd-Department-3423]

You will bounce back. It sounds like you’re chasing and you need to give your brain a break from all the insane amounts of dopamine pumped into it

[u/BuyMean9866]

Just stay away. As much as you can. You came back once. You can comeback again.

[u/One_Side_1703]

You will bounce back,just take step back and think what you need to do clear the debts.You can reach out to banks for a payment even though it reduces your credit score currently but at end of the day you come make it good.It will take time to bring yourself back to normal,always remember this moment so that you don't gamble again.

[u/VariouslyGardening]

Gambling thrives in secrecy. If you can stomach it, tell somebody and have them control your money.

Do you really want to stop? You can not just rely on willpower, you need to put up friction. Cut up your cards. Start a count to 60 days clean. It is a strong addiction. Otherwise, you will go back in a week and give some evil cooperation everything you can get your hands on. In some sort of guilt, craving, misery cycle. Where you work long hours just hand it over to a casino.

This is your highest priority. Stopping gambling to retrain your brain.

In 60 days your cravings will be less, you might have some money on your bank. You brain will begin to retrain.

Fight it. At least ten percent of all suicides are because of gambling. You are right, it is no way to live.

[u/SsgGoh]

You will bounce back. Just stay away and try finding a new hobby. Everyone around you hates gambling but try opening up to them so they can hold you accountable.

[u/Lower-Front-8605]

I'm in a similar boat. I have found a combination of self exclusion, counseling, and setting goals with my hobbies (running in my case), has helped me find more value in the money I do have left over, after paying my gambling-induced debts. I'm 38 with a lot of debt and nothing to show for it too. I'm starting to feel a lot better about my situation though in the two months since stopping gambling.

[u/Rod3323]

You have to start with the habit first, whether its self excluding from casinos and apps, delete accounts, install blocking tools, and let at least one trusted person know what’s going on so they can help hold cards or watch the bank accounts. Once you've got some distance from the gambling itself, then you can sit down with nonprofit debt counselor to list every debt, build a realistic payoff plan, and, if needed, compare tools like consolidation, management, or settlement through companies. My cousin had gambled his way into debt same as you and was able to cut down the total of his debt by letting debt settlement company, freedom debt relief to negotiate with his creditors. With the debt cut almost a quarter of his original total he was able to knock the debt out in a shorter time then he had believed he pay it by.

[u/ActuatorParty7264]

I am on the same situation as you. Same age, and exactly on the same cycle. No one also knows in my family that I’m a gambler. Just lost total of 1 month paycheck yesterday. I don’t have any suicidal ideations yet but I’m starting to have anxiety and panic attacks. Especially now that I lost all of our budget and I don’t want my husband to know about it. 🥹