Benefits of habit “Stop gambling” Reduces financial issues Helps eliminate debt Maintains relationships Increases savings Reduces anxiety and stress. First step: Miss 1 session today. Today, no matter your gambling method (in casino, online, on your phone, etc.), skip 1 session today. Can I Quit A Gambling Addiction Cold Turkey Like behavioral addiction gambling addiction is no different. Decided to quit. Most people who try to quit smoking go 'cold turkey' the first time out—and most of them fail. That is because most smokers totally underestimate the power of nicotine addiction and completely overestimate their own ability to withstand the simultaneous onslaught of physical withdrawal symptoms and psychological triggers. Gambling addiction is one of the hardest problems to stop. It can be an all-consuming behavior that can result in some very bad consequences. Here are ten ways to stop gambling forever.

• How To Stop Gambling Cold Turkey
• Can You Stop Gambling Cold Turkey

I QUIT COLD TURKEY. At one point, I managed to quit gambling for 9 months. This was around age 25/26. My grandma had previously quit smoking cold turkey and I sold myself on the idea that I could do the same with gambling. A 'harmless' $20 home game led to a deposit online and I was quickly back in the ringer, but with even greater losses accruing.

Good question, is it possible for me to quit gambling alone without any counseling or groups.

I tried the meetings (Gamblers Anonymous) and did not care for them as they were only band-aids, some people will go to meetings for 15 or 20 years and still not know why they gambled. In saying this I must add that I have a very hard head. I gambled for over 20 years and was always broke, spend my last dollar many times before buying food.

Everyone is different and this may not work out for you but it did for me.

Very long story made short: I started reading many spiritual books, not religious but spiritual. Some people die without ever knowing themselves. The spiritual books and self help books i read helped my figure out what triggered my gambling, it was easier once I knew myself. Gambling for me was a great run away from all troubles, going brain dead as I called it.

When I did not want to deal with people or issues I would gamble. I found when someone upset me I would gamble for weeks on end over little matters. Once I learned to forgive those Idiots everything started going smoother. Also confronting any issues head on constantly and never letting them build up helped.

I started this ride a year and a half ago, August 2002. It took about 3 months before I started getting better and about 9 months to not have any urges. I must add this as it was to funny, I prayed to stop gambling and for a month, I had bad urges and gambled a bit in that time. While driving one day a thought came to mind, 'watch what you pray for' I started laughing out loud while at a stop light and thought: You fool !! I prayed that I would stop gambling but never thought to pray to not have urges.

It worked for me, I can only hope it will be easier for you.

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Is it possible for me to quit gambling alone without...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 2007-06-03 13:50.

Authored by: prokopton on Thursday June 24, 2004
07:00 PM EDT

BELOW IS A REPLY FROM THE ORIGINAL POST

Hi Bill,

Ernie J here, a compulsive gambler. Going it alone has led you into trouble by gambling alone. I'm sure some people might have made it cold turkey, but I don't know any of them because they would not have attended any meetings (Gamblers Anonymous). So you never hear about them. Quitting gambling is what you need to do, but what are the reasons for it. Not only do you have to dwell on your gambling losses, emotional problems occur. Do you feel good about yourself? Have you left your wife and children alone just to go gambling? Have you hurt them by not being around? If you have a wife with a sympathetic ear talk to her now, tell her of your losses. You are gambling on your future.

Authored by: denisec on Sunday March 12, 2006
09:13 AM EST

Anything is possible. It just didn't work out that way for me, to quit alone. I gambled for twenty years and tried many things to quit, but until I was really ready it didn't happen. I know for myself I could have never done it alone and GA has helped me see many of the reasons I gambled. I think to really give GA a chance to work you really have to give it at least 90 days of going to many meetings. Going once or twice a week is not going to do it for you if you gambled everyday.

Authored by: prokopton on Thursday June 24, 2004
07:03 PM EDT

ANOTHER REPLY FROM THE ORIGINAL POST

I am a busy professional with a family and good job. I have been gambling for about 3 years. It started on the internet where I won playing blackjack (about $32,000 one night). I enjoyed playing 5 hands at once at $1,000 each hand. After a while I got tired of playing blackjack, plus, I was starting to lose more than win. I did win sometimes (sometimes very big money), but for some reason, it was very easy for me to give up internet gambling.

The real casino gambling has proven much more difficult. I have to drive through Vegas a lot (about 5 times a year), and of course, got to be on the comp list at the highest level at several hotels there due to my 35 hours of play at an average of $300 to $700 per hand in blackjack. Sometimes I would win $25,000, sometimes I would lose $25,000 in one weekend visit. It got out of hand, but I only went 5 times a year, so it didn't bankrupt me. Then an Indian casino opened near my home (about 1 hour drive). I figure I have lost
about $300,000 there during the past year and a half.

I have tried quitting many times. Now I am trying to pray to God every day to help me. I am also trying to talk with my wife more and spend more time with my children. I am wondering if this is going to work. It has only been a week since I have tried this way, but I feel good about it right now. I am wondering, is it possible for me to quit alone without any counseling or groups. I am a solitary man in many ways (except for my family) and I don't feel comfortable around groups of people or counselors.

Has anyone out there made it alone and succeeded? I would like to hear from you if you have.

Authored by: charmed1djl on Thursday December 30, 2004
12:00 AM EST

YES IT IS POSSIBLE TO QUIT GAMBLING. We all gamble for different reasons, from what you wrote you have money to gamble, I don't . I never had money, then when my husband died, I had (the operative word) all kinds of money. I would have been set up pretty nice, put it that way. Now I'm broke and the story goes on. Anyway, I did quit frequenting the Casino's, when my husband was still alive. I quit for a year, because i knew how much he despised it and also i know what it's done for my folks. Then he died, and I went crazy...........I mean crazy........not just gambling, but drinking too. Needless to say I'm back where i started and it sucks. I'm poor, as they say, a fool and their money shall soon part... I'm one hell of a fool. I'm so poor I can't pay attention... that's why i gamble, to try and get some money to pay my bills. Back to you...P.S. No more or I'll lose my house
I HAVE TO QUIT IF I LIKE SLEEPING IN A WARM BED AT NIGHT!!!

Authored by: day-to-day on Wednesday March 22, 2006
08:15 PM EST

I am a compulsive gambler...plain and simple...why did we do it? That question will never be answered. It is the way we are 'wired'. We don't need to know why we gambled. Approach a compulsive gambling addiction day-to-day. As long as you did not gamble today, that is what matters..

What Can You Do, to Give Yourself the Best Chance of Recovery?

Gamban has been designed by people (gamblers) with first-hand experience in problem gambling. While our primary focus is software development and creating practical barriers to online gambling, we wanted to share some of our own ideas for recovery and minimising the risk of gambling relapse.

Gamban can remove the gambling temptation

Before we started Gamban we heard stories of people freezing credit cards in blocks of ice to create a ‘temptation buffer’ and a lady who, knowing she’d gamble only on weekends, would send her payment cards in the post to herself on a Friday, so they would arrive on Monday. We experimented with parental control systems where a friend was needed to look after a code and we explored other, more expensive and restrictive gambling-blocking software. We hope, with Gamban, you don’t feel you need to resort to these methods. We also hope, in time, that you don’t even need Gamban. We see Gamban as a tool that can help people on their path to recovery, quite possibly alongside other forms of treatment. Like the dating site, Match.com famously celebrate drop-offs in user numbers as a sign that people are finding love, we like to think that those who no longer require our software are out of the ‘danger zone’. That said, many choose to keep Gamban on their systems for ongoing peace of mind. After all, the cost of Gamban is negligible compared to the cost of online gambling addiction.

Here are some ideas that you may find helpful:

A new email address

You may continue to receive gambling-related emails and enticing 500% bonus offers after closing your account. It may be easier to start using a different ‘clean’ email address. Give yourself a fresh start – but don’t forget to update your Gamban account with your new email.

Self-compassion

Learning to understand, tolerate, like and love yourself is a crucially important aspect to recovery. It’s important to understand that self-compassion does not mean self-indulgence. The objective is not to give yourself permission to gamble but to forgive yourself if you fall. Setting unreachable standards can be less than useful in recovery from gambling addiction. For more information on self-compassion and for some useful exercises visit http://self-compassion.org/ (one useful, if a little strange, exercise involves sending a letter to yourself from the perspective of a close and empathetic friend).

Draw a line

It’s OK; you’re never going to get that money back. It’s gone. The worst thing is to continue chasing. Learn and move on. You may be searching for someone to give you that reassurance that everything will be OK. If you are reading this with that mindset, then take this onboard: it’s what you do now that matters.

Know you will never win

You might win occasionally but what you win is almost certainly going back… and then some. One of the worst things that can happen to a gambler is a big win. You’re either chasing losses or worse, chasing wins. The best advice is to stay away completely. The cost of advertising, licensing, buildings, salaries – you gamble long enough, you lose – it’s that simple. This alone probably isn’t enough to make you stop – and we understand that.

Give control away

You may need someone to handle access to money in your state of vulnerability. Discuss this with parents, friends, family, partners – anyone you completely trust. Failing this, being accountable to someone else by showing them your bank statements means there is someone else included in your path to recovery.

Distraction

How To Stop Gambling Cold Turkey

It may be too hard to stop ‘cold turkey’ with no other distractions or alternatives to gambling. Quite simply, you aren’t going to find anything to rival gambling in terms of excitement. It’s designed to transition you from a high to a low and back again. Try to reduce the requirement for stimulation from an activity by engaging in more activities that involve ‘flow state’. Get ‘absorbed’ in video games, play cognitive strategy games or engage in something more meditative like puzzle games. The jury’s out on free-to-play gambling games and whether they act as a relapse risk or as ‘methadone-to-heroin’.

Mindfulness

Using an application like Headspace can be extremely helpful in understanding your mind and slowing the response between thought, feeling and behaviour. Countless medical professionals suggest mindfulness as an effective option for problem gamblers. For more general information on Mindfulness (and getting better sleep!), visit https://www.nestmaven.com/sleep/aids/mindfulness/

Create digital barriers

By signing up to GAMSTOP (Spring 2018), you reduce the options for gambling with UK based gambling sites and with Gamban installed you reduce access to all gambling sites and applications. Download Gamban at https://www.gamban.com/register

Create physical barriers

Where do you gamble? In the bedroom? In the lounge? Then ban your computer from the bedroom and lounge. It may be easier for you to set rules on where you use your computer than how you use your computer, to help combat the urge to gamble.

Shaving is saving

Can You Stop Gambling Cold Turkey

By ‘shaving’ off the middle 8 digits and security code of your credit or debit card, you remove the ability to make online payments. This may not be possible if you do the majority of your shopping online but if you can remove the ability to spend online then this might help. You may also need to close PayPal and other payment methods to enforce this barrier.

Talk

Whether you want to talk on the phone, message via live chat, email or talk face-to-face, there are plenty of options available. It is entirely likely that your gambling activity is symptomatic of another [deeper] problem and for this, we highly recommend therapy. Some helpful resources include; The National Gambling helpline, Gamblers Anonymous and GamAnon.

Ultimately, we believe there is a place for will-power – or more accurately, ‘won’t-power’ – but effective barriers can be helpful on the path to recovery from gambling addiction. Download Gamban at https://www.gamban.com/register