Hi Nick,
any way you can set up an account for savings that you need two signatures to get at? Then you could transfer extra money to that account and being accountable to someone else would stop you from running to dip into to cover gambling debt, especially repeatedly. Or tie it up in investments or deposits or something. Being a CG and sitting on savings that you can access seems to be a deadly mix. Because if you go off, you could really go off the rails. And the chasing and the self loathing kick in and it can be a pretty ugly place to lose the down payment savings for a home. In my experience I gambled so much I was going to lose my home . The suicidal thoughts kick in then.
Well done on the steps you are taking.
I’ve done a lot of reading on research that compares brain scans of gamblers the same as brain scans of drug addicts. At least two different parts of our brain change in response to our addiction. So treatments and information about drug addiction can be a good source of recovery info for a CG. They feel there are medications and cognitive behavioural therapy that can help with gambling addiction. I feel it is the rational part of my brain trying to outsmart the addicted/cg part of my brain. Need to keep my money and my life safe!
Keep adding in positive activities into your life and keeping busy. You are definitely on the right track. Have a good day Nick!
Laura