Everything was going perfect for me in life. Good job, good home, good life and good friends. Until one day some friends asked if I wanted to go to the casino. By the time I realized it, three years of my life were gone and I was in debt. It was time to quit.

The day I decided to stop gambling I was depressed and relieved at the same time. I couldn’t go on any longer. I thought all my hopes and dreams were shattered. I couldn’t tell anybody what I was going through. I was afraid that they would be disappointed in me. I remember the first day. I was nervous and anxious. I had a hard time focusing at work. This was not my first time trying to quit. I was sure I really wanted to quit, but wasn’t sure if I could quit.

The day I decided to quit I had no where to turn. I found it was difficult to talk to my family and friends about my problem. I began to do research and found Gamblers Anonymous. I wanted to give Gamblers Anonymous a try. I happened to have met a lot of nice people there. They welcomed me into the group and made me feel comfortable. I had tears coming down my face and my anxiety kicked in. I was very quiet buy my emotions were running wild inside. I made it through my first meeting and was somewhat looking forward to the next one. As each week passed new members would join and others would disappear. This became a weekly event. Who was going to come back and who was going to stay?

I continued to go to my Gamblers Anonymous meeting on a weekly basis. I was always afraid some one would recognize me. The turn over was extraordinary. Each week as I entered the meeting my heart began to race until I was sure I didn’t know any of the new members. It was the tenth week and an old co-worker of mine walked through the doors. We hadn’t worked together for over ten years. I thought about leaving but I decided to stay and try and work it out. Unfortunately he did not keep the Gamblers Anonymous code. He had told a friend who told another friend until it got back to me. It was unfortunate, but I dealt with it and moved on.

I and others unfortunately had other situations occur that were not very positive for us at Gamblers Anonymous. I still thank them for putting me on the road to recovery. From the first time I entered Gamblers Anonymous and followed up with the website I Stopped Gambling So Can You

I believe I am on the road to recovery. I take one day at a time and allow myself the option to gamble or not to gamble. This helped me to take control of my life. By allowing myself to make the choice the amount of stress on me has been significantly reduced.

A month after I stopped going to Gamblers Anonymous meetings, I ran into one of the members. He was curious at how I was doing and asked me if I would be there next week? I told him I would try and make the meeting. I popped in a few times more to tell them how I was doing. They were all glad to see me, but I wasn’t in compliance with the rules of Gamblers Anonymous, so I decided not to go back. In this particular group I attended, they have rules that do not allow a member to comment during therapy if they did not attend four consecutive weekly meetings. I respected their rules but realized it was time to move on. I told the group and thanked them very much for putting me in the right direction and left.

A compulsive gambler who participated in Gamblers Anonymous program shared his recovery in hopes to help others affected by this addiction.
Sean was an above average student in high school. He played sports, volunteered at the local soup kitchen on holidays and had a high school sweetheart that he married soon after graduating. He went onto college and received his degree. Five years after graduating college he already had two kids and a beautiful home. He was living the American dream. Everything was going perfect in life. Then one day the local news broad cast the grand opening of a gambling establishment. The news reporter hailed it as a big boost for the local economy. Little did Sean know that this new place was going to cost him his life savings and more.

The local excitement generated by the opening stimulated the public’s curiosity. Most people have never really been exposed to gambling and the affects it can have on you. The local news stated that there were going to be just as many stars at the opening as there were at the Academy Awards. Everyone wanted to go and check it out. Besides gambling they have various types of entertainment, unique shopping, first class accommodations and top quality food. Sean called his friends to go and everyone said yes.
Sean had the time of his life. He was one of the lucky ones he won $500.00 and everyone else either broke even or lost their money. They all agreed they had a fantastic night and could not wait to do it again. They all decided that they should go every Friday night. It was time for them to get out of the house and take a break from the kids. Everyone found a babysitter and off they went.

For the next six months Sean, his wife and friends spent Friday nights dancing, eating and gambling. Everyone thought this was the life. They all had good jobs and no financial problems. Sean was on a hot streak. His first game of choice was poker. His wife really did not like to gamble but she like the shops and entertainment. While Sean gambled his wife went to the shows and shopped till she dropped. She thought everything was fine. Sean would hand her $200.00 he said he just won and told her to treat herself to something special at the stores. Little did everyone know that Sean’s $500.00 gambling limit was up to $1,500.00 a week. His friends also did not realize that he was losing. He would run to the cash machine at the end of the night and made people to believe he either won or broke even. He was always an honest guy, there was no reason anyone would suspect that he was lying.

A year had passed and Sean had lost over $15,000.00. The wife had no idea, but Sean was beginning to have doubts about the gambling establishment, but could not stop. He remembers one day he called in sick from work and decided to spend the day gambling. He was sure he could win back all the money he lost. He took $5000.00 out of the bank and lost it all that same day. He was upset with no where to turn.

Another year past and he lost even more money. All of sudden his world was crumbling with no where to turn. He thought about committing suicide by making it look like an accident so his life insurance would take care of his family. He was in so much pain and no one knew. He wanted this madness to stop. He knew his wife knew nothing about his addiction, but knew she was going to find out shortly since he maxed out the credit cards and gambled his mortgage payment.

Sean’s job began to suffer because he was always preoccupied with placing his next bet. He began to isolate himself. He stopped going to lunch with his co-workers. No one questioned why or I should say no one took the time to find out why.

His wife was called by their mortgage company telling her that they did not get their March payment. She called Sean at work and he old her the check must have gotten lost in the mail. He began to panic, became very resourceful and found a way to cover the mortgage. Another two months went by and he finally had to tell his wife. She was stunned in disbelief. She basically told him to get help or get out.

Sean had already known about Gamblers Anonymous but was afraid to go and was scared people would find out. He finally decided to call Gamblers Anonymous and check it out.

Sean found out that Gamblers Anonymous has helped thousands of individuals beat their compulsive gambling addiction. He was smart individual. He realized the expectations that are placed on Gamblers Anonymous are excessive due to the volume of gamblers seeking help with a very unique program. He attended his first meeting and realized he was not alone and help was available if he wanted it.

Gamblers Anonymous has a twelve step program geared towards helping individuals with their gambling addiction.

The twelve steps are as follows:

1. We admitted we were powerless over gambling – that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to a normal way of thinking and living.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Power of our own understanding.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral and financial inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have these defects of character removed.

7. Humbly asked God (of our understanding) to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having made an effort to practice these principles in all our affairs, we tried to carry this message to other compulsive gamblers.

Understanding the Gamblers Anonymous program allowed Sean to decide if this was the right program for him. He was able to relate to all the people at the meeting but felt his situation was different. He saw the pros and cons of this program.

For three months he attended Gamblers Anonymous, his life began to get better until he slipped up and placed a few bets. He was so ashamed that he gambled he didn’t know what to do. He missed the next meeting but decided to go again the following week. He told the group what had happened and they unfortunately change his date that he placed his last bet. This totally discouraged him and reduced his self esteem to the lowest in his life. He still continued to go but his heart was no longer into Gamblers Anonymous. He felt degraded. His sponsor there tried to help him work through it. The next meeting he attended a person walked into the room that he recognized. He began to panic and asked to talk to the chair person. The chair person tried to calm him down, by telling him that everything that happens in this room stays in this room. The person you know is here to get help too.

What Sean didn’t know was this person he recognized had already been in the program for two years and successfully stopped gambling. This person was open about her addiction.

The next week Sean’s wife received a call from one of her friends asking her if Sean had a gambling addiction. She told her friend yes he does and he is getting help. Her friend told her there was a rumor going around about Sean.

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