u/Extreme-Tree-8513

As most of you may know, gambling addiction is quite big in my age demographic amongst many Aussies, unfortunately I fit into that demographic.

I don’t know why I’m writing this, I hardly ever use reddit but I just need to get this off my chest, if anyone has any advice please leave a comment or reach out.

Last monday I turned 20. I am working full time and studying in uni. I started gambling when I was 16, sneaking into pokies and gambling on older mates bookie accounts. It started small, I was always stingy with my money and hesitated to gamble, but that quickly snowballed. From 17-20, I have not made a full month without gambling my monthly pay, its generally gone in the first 2-3 days. If I have money in my bank, I genuinely will not stop until its all gone, even if that means staying up until 4am.
I feel disgusting and sick constantly, I can’t bare to look at myself some days, it has been extremely dark. I loan money off friends, family, apps.
Right now i am in debt roughly $4000.
I recognise that I am an addict and I genuinely want to change, I have tried everything, betstop, sending my money to trusted ones, deposit limits, nothing works.
It is genuinely uncontrollable, for instance I’ll overhear someone talking about NRL or horses at work and I will not stop until I have a bet placed on whatever it is.
The triggers are insignificant but its like my brain switches when it happens, along with many other things.
I’m not looking for sympathy, i know im an absolute idiot, but could someone who may have been in a similar situation please help me with some advice?

Thanks for reading❤️

Edit:
Hey everyone just an update.
I’ve taken today off work and im treating this with some urgency. I am booked in to see a GP in an hour.
Just to clarify, I have lost well over $30k, the $4k is just what I am currently owing. I dont seem to struggle with pokies and physical gambling as much if at all, its predominantly online racing.
Thank you so much for everyones advice and kind words, its truly given me a breath of fresh air and I woke up with a bit of pep in my step because of it.
This is the start of the journey, you guys rock❤️

As most of you may know, gambling addiction is quite big in my age demographic amongst many Aussies, unfortunately I fit into that demographic.

I don’t know why I’m writing this, I hardly ever use reddit but I just need to get this off my chest, if anyone has any advice please leave a comment or reach out.

Last monday I turned 20. I am working full time and studying in uni. I started gambling when I was 16, sneaking into pokies and gambling on older mates bookie accounts. It started small, I was always stingy with my money and hesitated to gamble, but that quickly snowballed. From 17-20, I have not made a full month without gambling my monthly pay, its generally gone in the first 2-3 days. If I have money in my bank, I genuinely will not stop until its all gone, even if that means staying up until 4am.
I feel disgusting and sick constantly, I can’t bare to look at myself some days, it has been extremely dark. I loan money off friends, family, apps.
Right now i am in debt roughly $4000.
I recognise that I am an addict and I genuinely want to change, I have tried everything, betstop, sending my money to trusted ones, deposit limits, nothing works.
It is genuinely uncontrollable, for instance I’ll overhear someone talking about NRL or horses at work and I will not stop until I have a bet placed on whatever it is.
The triggers are insignificant but its like my brain switches when it happens, along with many other things.
I’m not looking for sympathy, i know im an absolute idiot, but could someone who may have been in a similar situation please help me with some advice?

Thanks for reading❤️

As most of you may know, gambling addiction is quite big in my age demographic amongst many Aussies, unfortunately I fit into that demographic.

I don’t know why I’m writing this, I hardly ever use reddit but I just need to get this off my chest, if anyone has any advice please leave a comment or reach out.

Last monday I turned 20. I am working full time and studying in uni. I started gambling when I was 16, sneaking into pokies and gambling on older mates bookie accounts. It started small, I was always stingy with my money and hesitated to gamble, but that quickly snowballed. From 17-20, I have not made a full month without gambling my monthly pay, its generally gone in the first 2-3 days. If I have money in my bank, I genuinely will not stop until its all gone, even if that means staying up until 4am.
I feel disgusting and sick constantly, I can’t bare to look at myself some days, it has been extremely dark. I loan money off friends, family, apps.
Right now i am in debt roughly $4000.
I recognise that I am an addict and I genuinely want to change, I have tried everything, betstop, sending my money to trusted ones, deposit limits, nothing works.
It is genuinely uncontrollable, for instance I’ll overhear someone talking about NRL or horses at work and I will not stop until I have a bet placed on whatever it is.
The triggers are insignificant but its like my brain switches when it happens, along with many other things.
I’m not looking for sympathy, i know im an absolute idiot, but could someone who may have been in a similar situation please help me with some advice?

Thanks for reading❤️