What Sean
didn’t know was this person he recognized had already
been in the program for two years and successfully
stopped gambling. This person was open about her
addiction.
The next
week Sean’s wife received a call from one of her friends
asking her if Sean had a gambling addiction. She told
her friend yes he does and he is getting help. Her
friend told her there was a rumor going around about
Sean.
Sean’s
wife was very upset and called her husband at work. It
was unfortunate that the person Sean recognized told
only one person her husband. The husband meant no harm
but he told a buddy of his.
Gamblers
Anonymous is a wonderful program but it is not anonymous
and to expect people to keep silent is highly unlikely.
Sean stayed with Gamblers Anonymous another two months
and then decided it was time to get help elsewhere.
Sean found a unique website that had a private chat room which was available seven days a weeks. He found another source to help him move forward. He was grateful to Gamblers Anonymous for getting his life back in order but knew he needed another way. He found a site called Stopped Gambling
Addiction website
http://www.istoppedgambling.com/
. He checked it out and found this was right for
him. The owner of the site believes that Gamblers
Anonymous is a wonderful program, but is not for
everyone. This was the reason he created the website I
stopped Gambling So Can You. He believes the private
chat room is perfect for people who would like to keep
their gambling addiction private. He also believes that
compulsive gamblers should have alternative distinct
programs available. The owner of the site also attended
Gamblers Anonymous meetings and noticed that a large
percentage did not stay. There were no tracking
statistics on what happens to compulsive gamblers after
they leave. In a three week period he noted a total of
four people came and went. When you multiply this by
the number of Gamblers Anonymous meetings through out
the world you realize that alternative programs are
needed.
Sean
remembers waking up in the middle of the night,
convincing himself that he should gamble just one more
time. He told himself no. He then signed in to the I
Stop Gambling Chat Room. Only one person was there, but
that’s all he needed. They chatted for about an hour
and Sean went back to sleep feeling content.
Sean
checks in an out of the chat room on a weekly basis. As
time passed by, he also went back to a few Gamblers
Anonymous meetings to share his thoughts. He believed
he found the best of both worlds.
It seems
that compulsive gamblers can deal with people knowing
only after a year or so has passed since their last
bet. This is due to the fact that when compulsive
gamblers realize they are at bottom, their self esteem
is also at the lowest.
Sean also
believes everything is one day at a time and will always
be grateful to both Gamblers Anonymous and the private
stop gambling chat rooms.
This
story has a happy ending. Sean’s wife is expecting a
baby in September. Their financial position has changed
and their future looks bright.
Sean
knows he will always be a compulsive gambler, but has
made the choice not to gamble.
