My gambling addiction story and how i reacted to it
I am a (21M) who is addicted to gambling. I started gambling about 5 years ago when i was 16. My friend introduced me to roulette and i lost about 5 euros which kinda hurt me but still, i tried something new. As the time went by i started putting in 10-20 euros and when i won 50 i was on top of the world. That was huge amount of money at that time. When i turned 18 i opened up online accounts and started betting there. I won some and lost some but still, i didnt believe it was that serious. My first big loss came im January 2025. I won like 1500 euros from parlays and slots, i went on a holiday with my friends and i lost all that money plus smth additional that my parents sent me. Last summer i did some unpredictable things that i couldnt believe i was capable of. One night i stole 1500 euros( too) from my dads wallet, went to a betting shop at 4 in the morning and almost lost it all, i was down on last 200 euros and started thinking where to find money to repay him, fortunately i won and got back to 1500 and gave him that money back, which he realized and punished me for it. It was arguably the worst thing i have ever done. But i didnt learn the lesson. From that moment until today, i kept on and on, loss after loss after loss, still, i couldnt stop and only made it worse. The worst part happened yesterday. I earned my first paycheck, i made plans for the weekend and how to spent that money and in 3 hours i lost it all. Every single cent. I used my uncle as a scapegoat and he sent me 500 euros which i also gambled away and made it worse. I told my parents which made my mom crying and my dad heavily disappointed. I let down my family and my friends, but the worst part is i let down myself. I am not in debt to anybody, i just feel like my life is crashing down at the moment. I havent worked for 2 days and i feel terrible. But still, even after all of this, i think there is light at the end of the tunnel. I saw a lot of stories on Reddit and i believe that there i am more than what you see behind the eye. My story doesnt end here, this is just a start, start of a mental and physical rebuid.
Moral of the story is, when you feel like its all crashing down at the same time its not, trust me. It is just in your head. Whatever bothers you go talk to somebody, socialize because if those people that you talk to love you, they will find space in their heart to listen to you and understand you. Stay down until you come up, because your time will
come, just be patient, and stay true to yourself.