Gambling Addiction: The Negative Spiral downwards: Suicide is something that does enter your mind at the lowest ebb....

The actor in this film could be me. My gambling was very much linked to low self esteem, the gambling was the negative reinforcement of how shit, and worthless I believed I was. You become frustrated, angry, the guilt, the shame, you lose everything, family, friends, health, assets, your home, your future. And then desperation, depression and living the lonely existence. 

Electronic gambling machines are highly addictive and dangerous machines that appeal to the subliminal mind. Marketing campaigns for playing these machines always glamorize the experience and promote the idea of winning big as something that can happen to you. The reality is far more likely that regularly playing pokies, slots, fruit machines, VLTs, FOBTs, one arm bandits, internet gambling etc you will lose your money, your happiness and your health. These machines are designed to take all of your money off you.

Suicide is something that does enter your mind at the lowest ebb, and gambling addiction was the self fulfilling prophesy that took me there.

Now that my last gamble is over 18 months behind me (as at May 2013), I am still suffering with depression and oscillating moods, a consequence of over 25 years of my mood being directly corelated to whether I won/lost gambling on any given day. Gambling for long periods can seriously damage your mental health.

I am still trying to find the energy to write more about my feelings and my journey from an 11 year old child that first played slots to a 41 year old that has stopped gambling but is struggling to get his life back on track. 

I will start to write more about how I came back from the abyss but essentially the change came from within. My battle to stop took over 20 years from knowing that I had a gambling addiction. 

Every persons journey into gambling addiction is personal and every persons recovery is different. This film won't be for everyone but I relate to it.

 Gambling Addiction - Inside Story