TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR MONEY

Do you have a partner or family member who can support you by, for example, looking after your credit cards? Your bank may be able to help by blocking payments to gambling sites or temporarily freezing your card if you’re spending a lot.

If you have debts, get advice sooner rather than later from Citizens Advice, National Debtline or a money advice organisation.

Plan Your Time

Remove the temptation of boredom by planning your days to avoid those thumb-twiddling moments when you might be tempted. (There’s some evidence that gamblers are easily bored.)

Set yourself goals, tasks and problems to solve. Get back into old hobbies which you may have lost interest in while gambling.

Take it one day at a time. Invest as much time in your alternative recovery activities as you did in gambling. Accept too, as you’ll read in our case studies, that recovery will take time.