I was placing money on absolutely everything online. If there was a bet to be had, I was doing it and I was betting about £60,000 a day. That’s when things started to go wrong.

I realised something needed to change when I was lying to everyone around me about gambling and hiding my phone and staying up at night doing it. I was also taking out large loans, selling my car, and getting into large amounts of debt to fund my gambling.

When I finally acknowledged my problem and wanted to stop what really helped was talking to my friends and family and everybody around me about the problem and talking through what was going on in my head.

The first thing I would say to anybody looking for help is that they are not alone. There will be people around them, whether it’s friends or family, that will support them.

There are also organisations like Gamban, GAMSTOP, and GamCare that have great tools and people willing to help and get you through the tough times.

For anybody out there looking for help, please check out TalkBanStop.

I first made contact with GamCare back in 2019 after finding out about my husband’s harmful gambling, it was out of desperation to try and find out how I could support him. This is when I was told about Gamban and GAMSTOP and that it was advised for him to self-exclude and download the blocking software to help him with his recovery.

When we sat down together to do this, I then thought that this would be good for me to do as well, so that I had the peace of mind knowing that the possibility of him trying to set up accounts in my name was significantly reduced. We installed GamBan on to all of our own devices, as well as our children’s and it felt like a positive step forward knowing that blocking software was installed and that we had gone through the self-exclusion process.

Since then, TalkBanStop was founded and we have continued to use this recovery incentive and safety netting tools as a family, it is something that as an Affected Other I always recommend to families and support networks, as it provides a great sense on security and peace of mind knowing that as an Affected Other, I am protected as best I can be as I continue to support my husband through his recovery journey.

TalkBanStop is a great partnership and helps more than those in recovery, if you have been impacted by the gambling of someone else, I highly recommend utilising TalkBanStop as protection for yourself!