Good luck staying off the gambling mate. i never envisaged so many replies to this post and we seem to be a strange bunch of fans many struggling with addictions. However, whenever I lose a bet I always pay up not like that mag fan who brought disgrace upon himself. Shameful.
It's like reading my life story ha ha. Word of advice mate, kick the weed, I smoked it for years because it helped. It doesn't, it makes you worse and when you haven't got it, you will be at your worst. Also have the chance of the coppers kicking your door in...
Gambling was only a by-product as it was the only place with an open bar. I'll be fine. Chaos all ways looms with bi polar. Thanks for your support but it's you who needs it at the moment. Unfortunaly like with most addictions you have to want to do it and to develop a true want. You may have to hit rock bottom and hurt the ones you love before you realise. hope it doesn't get that far for you but only you can stop that happening. it's annoying that this country has fed you to the dogs cause addiction is a mental illness and it's not taken seriously enough by professionals.
Catch 51 though, if i come off it I need to try meds again which equals chaos. I know I need to kick it, that's why I haven't stated a family. I just want to be normal instead of fighting demons. I've been manic for just over three years now straight, and the weed keeps the edge off and keeps me off the booze. it's not good but rather the weed than booze. My lady smokes weed too and we're gonna quit together, I want 6 months off it before we start trying for a baby.
Good lad, remember weed can reduce your chances of your spunk making babies. Try and stop ASAP. I've got the same mate, bi-polar. I've always refused tablets, I just won't go down that road because I believe that's just another addiction. I'm gunna beat everything with my mental strength, that's absolutely key to life. I reckon PDC thinks so as well.
I don't recognise myself on meds, feel soulless if you know what I mean. Stephen Fry is bi polar and med free, great inspiration. It's pure discipline, keeping out of the pub or off licence, but as you know full well, there's something about bi-polar that just makes you chase substance. Booze happens to be my major vice for destructive behaviour. How you doing keeping the 'Beast' at bay? And how you sleeping? Is depression or mania your main problem? Hope your doing well.
Apart from the gambling mate, life's good. For me, it's keeping away from anything negative but as you know, on any given day, at any time, somebody might just switch the Hoover on when in watching TV and that's it, it's the end of the world, sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a month or two. My sleeping is always all over the place, I could never sleep before midnight, and I will never lie in late either. Sometimes I stay awake all night when I'm on rock bottom. I just wish they was more awareness about mental health, instead of people thinking we are 'nuts' and 'lunatics'. Not many people know what I go through, from the outside I'm a cheeky chappy who always has a smile on my face, good job, nice house, lovely family, I've won the golden boot around the Sunday leagues, so I'm well known with the lads, none of them have a clue. I've never came out and told anybody for fear of being rejected and how people might then view me. Depression is my main problem, I love it when I'm on a high, lifes good.
Not sure about thinking we are 'nuts' thing. My brother in law was in an asylum and the inmates actually thought everybody on the outside was nuts. Eg going to work 40 hours a week in jobs they hated to get money (regarded by them as pieces of paper) to buy things they had no need for. When you actually think about it , they may be right.
I can't bare it and I get so rarely. My life is consumed with restlessness, agitation and urges. My sleep is really bad at the moment but for a long period up until recently I was getting 3 hours of blissful deep sleep. I've done weeks without deep sleep. The manic mind is still very alert but my hand eye, my balance and my speech gets shot from fatigue and I look like a drunken fool. Mad we have the same condition but at completely different ends of the spectrum.
I was admitted for 3 months, funniest 3 months of my life, so many fantastic personalities. If I didn't volunteer they were going to section me.
i SAID 'THEY MAY BE RIGHT'. It's just a different way of thinking. We are controlled very much now by advertisers as a previous poster pointed out referring to foxy bingo and ray winstone. Mind control going on all the time. The very fact that we are on a football forum illustrates that. Erm, we are overly concerned with very wealthy men who run around for 90 minutes a week, even pledging allegiance to them for hat 90 minutes and been prepared to spend a significant portion of our income for the privelege of watching a them trying to get a ball thru 3 bits of wood and into a net. Is that not insane. Has it not been used by successivegovernments to tak peoples minds oof more important things?
Gotta say, down here in Oz gambling is sooooo easy to do, in the pubs and clubs over East they practically have 1/2 of the venue devoted to pokies. And it is all to easy to lose on those things when you've had a few bevvies. In WA, thankfully we don't allow it - although there is a push to get them through here. But people dont want them. They are a blight. But its the most profitable way for establishments now. But when I was in the UK, all i saw on the telly was Betfair adverts, BET365 etc and Ray Winston spruiking ****e for the next scorer. Seems betting is going digital, and its targeted at youth with all these 'free' bets they are offering. The uk would do very well to ban these ads on the telly, especially before the watershed.
this is a good read hope it helps http://problemgamblingprevention.org/data/treatment/want-to-stop-gambling-workbook.pdf
hey mate, i'm just speaking from experience myself, don't give yourself a date or time to finish... gambling is an an addiction like alcoholism or drugs.. there's no graduation.. you'll always be stuck with it.. the good news is prevention. surround yourself with good mates and support networks, people who dont gamble or are gonna encourage you to do it.. reality is your gonna be put in a sticky situation from time to time, when that happens have a solid support network around you, someone you can call if your feeling the urge to gamble, To many families here in oz have gone through hell due to gambling.. i know here there's GA (gambler's annonymous) not sure if that would help nmg.. all the best mate.
Gambling over east is terrible in Oz. I used to work in a pub in Bondi, and 7am people would be queued up outside the pokie room to satisfy their addiction. Weird thing was, the pokie room opened an hour before the actual pub did... that was how valuable the cash was from the people who were addicted. I like to have a punt sometime myself on the pokies and horses, but i can whack a fiddy in and if i lose that, then that's all. Im one of the lucky ones. GL with overcoming your demons mate, i know they dont make it easy down here.
