Gambling Addiction Help
- YOUR Stories!

Is your loved one a problem gambler?  Are you looking for gambling addiction help for yourself and your family?  One very valuable thing that helped me was to hear other people's gambling addiction related stories.  As sad as it may seem, it provides some degree of comfort to know that others are experiencing the same or similar things related to dealing with their loved one's gambling addiction.  Maybe it's because it provides some hope that there are others who have not only gone through the same thing, but who have recovered from it.  Also, perhaps there's some therapeutic benefit of sharing our stories with others.  You can skip down to share your Gambling Addiction Story, or for more background on the objectives of this site, please visit the Help With Gambling Addiction homepage.


Please Note:  This gambling addiciton help page is for loved ones of problem gamblers to share their stories.  If you're struggling with a gambling problem and would like to share YOUR story, please visit Compulsive Gambling Help.


I don't see that sharing our stories is a way to commiserate with one another, as that is typically not a helpful means of getting gambling problem help.  But rather, other people's stories help us to better understand our situation and to learn from what others have done to cope with their trials and tribulations.  We can learn both what to do, and what NOT to do!  If you can get to a Gam-Anon meeting, or share your story with a therapist, that's certainly highly recommended.  However, for many people, getting to a meeting is not always easy, or sharing your intimate thoughts is sometimes easier to do online.


Please share YOUR story and personal experience(s).  You're welcome to share what happened, how you felt then, or how you feel now, etc., but please keep the language clean.  Despite our desire to sometimes express ourselves with profanity, the spirit of this site is to share our stories so that others may benefit from them as they seek gambling addiction help.  Visitors to the site can also leave comments about your story, whether to share their own tidbits, or to provide advice.  The benefit of sharing your story here versus at meetings or other places, is that people's direct feedback, opinions, and advice are welcome, and the number of people that you can help with your story is tremendous given the reach of the Internet.


For those commenting, please don't leave comments like "You should leave him/her."  While in some cases that may be your recommendation, please respect the fact that this is not the path for everyone.  And if that is your advice, it should be accompanied by a thoughtful, well-rounded discussion.  One-liner comments with no thought or meat to them will be deleted in the spirit of maintaining the integrity of this gambling addiction help site. The path to gambling addiction help can be different for each person.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.


Submission Tips:
1.  The submission form below will only allow you to enter 3000 characters.  I expect that many people will find that this is not enough space!  You'll see the over character message once you submit your story.  If you get that message, please go ahead cut out a portion of your submission (highlight you selection and then press Ctrl-X) and paste it into a new submission (Ctrl-V) once you've completed your first submission.  You can do this as many times as you wish.  Once submitted, I will ensure that they link together.  I recommend simply using the same title including a reference to "Part 1" then "Part 2" and so on for each submission.  This will help me easily link them together in the right order.  You can also write your story in a Word document and simply paste it into the form in separate submissions.  If you're having any difficulty with this process at all, please feel free to Contact me.

2.  In the spirit of maintaining anonymity, please only include your first name, or an alias if you prefer.  Anyone submitting either your full name, or the full name of your gambler will result in my deleting last names before approving submissions.  Again, the spirit of this gambling addiction help site is to be helpful to those affected by the gambling problem in their family, and is not meant to be used as a vehicle to harm anyone.  You can also leave the Name field completely blank to submit anonymously without a name at all.


If I comment on people's submissions, you'll find me submitting under the alias name Mark.  I look forward to hearing your stories.  I know sharing your story will help many people; thank you!

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