It isn't easy – but recovery is possible.
The benefits of recovery are numerous: more time, more money, more opportunities, improved mental health and relationships, and much much more.
Treatment, support and self-exclusion tools are the most effective ways of stopping gambling and rebuilding your life but there are smaller additional things you can do to help maintain your recovery from gambling and these can be very personal.
Click on the people below who have experienced gambling harm to find out what's helped them maintain their recovery.
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Recovery has been about self-discovery – learning about myself and letting go of old behaviours. Being open to growth and self-care.
Connecting with others in recovery has been a blessing. Listening and talking to others who understand what you’re going through - and eventually helping support others has given me meaning and purpose.
Learning about gambling companies and addiction in general has helped me process what I went through and let go of some of the shame I had.
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As an affected other, the thing that helps me with the long-standing impacts of gambling harm is being able to talk about it. Whether with the person who gambled, family, friends or the general public, it helps normalise what we went through and hopefully allows others to know they are not alone and speak about it too.
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Eat healthy, sleep plenty, exercise lots and talk to people all the time. Start and finish every day with meditation.
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For me, what worked wonders was to put post-it notes on doors, mirrors etc, it doesn't have to be much but like 1 in the bedroom, bathroom and living for example as reminders.
One would have "dream to become (career)" .
Another would be "saving to buy (something one loves)".
These were amazing, conscious reminders that did so well for me.
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I look myself in the mirror every morning and declare out loud "Just for Today I am not going to gamble" it has kept me in good stead for sixteen years and 8 months and kept my recovery on track. Simple but effective.
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Stay educated - Try to learn about the tricks that big companies use to encourage us to gamble, drink, eat junk food etc. – you’ll see the adverts and the products in a different way and they become less tempting!
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I would like to highlight how important physical activity is and has been to my recovery. Having trained for and run a half marathon. I have also picked up a new hobby in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu martial arts.
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Make positive changes – enjoy exercise and find new hobbies. Educate yourself too, a lot of people go through gambling addiction and the industry makes it extremely possible to become addicted.
And perhaps most importantly, celebrate. It’s a massive win to stay stopped, so celebrate your progress – treat yourself to a nice meal or buy yourself something nice.
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Mindfulness has been so helpful to my recovery – being more aware of your thoughts and being able to observe them and not act on them helped so much in the early days.
Ten mins a day – you won't regret it!
Your recovery might benefit from connecting with aftercare and peer support, which are provided by a range of NHS services and charities.