Anxiety/depression

[Tomshardware]

"Been through bad time lately with suffering with this. Dark thoughts as well. I know some posters on here suffer with this. Anyone come through the other side of this shit?

"A number of posters have been yellow carded and told to stay off this thread unless they have anything constructive to add.This is a thread that has been very useful to so many, for any other posters with scores to settle, argue on another thread. This thread is sacrosant.Thank you"

[zico]

"Westham67 4:07 Mon Feb 19 I totally agree. I'm not too keen on Ray Winstone and Keith Lemon (wasn't keen on Lemon anyway) these days purely because when I am watching You Tube gambling ads kick in for a full 40 seconds or so and they seem one of the few you can't skip. The most bizarre ruling though has to be this. Once I'd realised my problem to get my ""fix"" I would have the odd play of ""demo"" slots online. Just for fun of course, no money involved. Couple of years back the British Gambling Authority got involved in that and most demos were blocked. The only way you could play even the demos was to prove your age by signing up to the gambling website who supplied the demo with a card!! Madness, I never did. I could understand it to keep away kids from getting on the ladder with playing slots but for recovering gamblers not particularly sensible. I got an email once offering 50 free spins for a site. I took it on as it was free spins and a bit of fun. I won £100 out of the free spins but again to claim your winnings you had to sign up to the site with a card. Refused to do that and got another 2 hours of fun losing the £100 that I never had in the first place. Play online Chess now for a bit of fun., I'm absolutely crap so glad theres no money involved in that!"

[Westham67]

Thanks Charley zico I know from my own bitter experience how destructive compulsive gambling is when you have a partner who cannot keep away from playing cards. Well done firstly for realizing you had a problem and then being strong enough to be disciplined. Gambling ads should be banned

[zico]

Pentonville 12:15 Wed Feb 14 I wish West Ham were! ;-)

[zico]

Pentonville 12:15 Wed Feb 14 I wish West Ham were! ;-)

[Pentonville]

Fair play Zico..sounds like ur winning to me.

[zico]

"Appreciate it gents. It was really difficult to see mum with dementia. That's a drain on your sanity seeing a loved one suffering like that every week. We would all love to have our loved ones back but I wouldn't want mum back post 2019 it's a brutal disease. She was great with the gambling issue, always on the end of a phone. Told me I was a prat but didn't hammer me just was there for support. My mates were great as well. I worked out that with an addiction once you accept it you slaughter yourself enough, you don't need others to kick you as well, so their support helped. Was also surprised how good the counselling was. Didn't really believe in it but ended up only having two sessions. Turned out there is different types of gambling because I only did cards and slots, never bet on horses or dogs etc apart from a fun flutter on the National each year. She said I was a ""competitive"" gambler whose problem was I didn't like losing. Good for me on the pool table or football pitch but not so good when you are losing at cards or slot machines with no final whistle. It's the ""chasing"" that's the killer. It's weird because for years I used to drink a lot socially but never at home. Decided to quit totally last year as I got fed up with getting up several times in the night!! Now I drive when we all go out and I am the one without the hangover the next morning. No issue at all stopping that overnight. Strange."

[fraser]

"Zico - don't feel silly for being proud, you should be. Well done."

[Mike Oxsaw]

"zico 7:42 Mon Feb 12 What can one say? Sorry to hear the news about your mum, naturally, but for you? Well done. I'm sure others will embellish those words because it's an achievement worthy of more than just those two small collections of letters."

[charleyfarley]

Well done Zico

[lab]

Well done Zico

[zico]

"Hi all hope all are well.. Been a funny old year and coming up to a year in a month or so since mum passed with dementia. Probate and all that bollocks still going on and only interred the ashes last week. Didn't know someone dying took so long to sort out! Hopefully she is up there listening to the old man moaning about yesterdays result! Anyway didn't know here else to share this but it's a pretty big thing for me so hope you don't mind. Used to have a pretty big gambling issue with slots and cards which culminated in having such a bad break in Vegas I couldn't afford a Burger King at the airport! Pretty much screwed up the relationship I had at the time although thankfully we are still great friends with both being happy on our own but do lots together including holidays, albeit not to Vegas anymore. Thankfully we weren't married with no kids so no-one was hurt financially except the berk here. Upon my return went to gambling counselling, self excluded from all Casinos and bar a £20 entry fee on a poker tournament on our cruise in 2019 haven't gambled heavily at all. All I do now is lottery and £3 each week with a mate on the football scores, so just a bit of fun. Up until Christmas I ensured he was the one who went into the betting shop to put the bets on be4cause I couldn't be sure I would walk past those slot machines. Over Christmas though my mate went down with flu so I took on the challenge and it's now 12th February and although we now alternate weeks when we pop in I just walk past those machines on the way in and on the way out with no desire o plonk a fiver in. If I did I probably would get drawn in again but I'm determined not to go there. Got a holiday with the ex planned again in May but will stick with any £20 poker tournament for an hour as it's only a bit of fun. The point of this post is that I honestly didn't think I had it in me to resist but so far I am managing it and a lid is on the monster. Will be careful to not get sloppy. It's pretty much 10 years to the day since I sat on that plane home feeling really shit and like a dickhead but 10 years on as silly as it sounds quite proud of myself I didn't fall off a cliff and as I say at the moment have the lid on that monster. Shows what you can do and those dark thoughts I had back then are long gone. If I can apply myself that way to the fags that will be something but I'll save that effort until after this years holiday! Cheers all."

[Haz]

"Thanks Fraser. Charley, difficult at the beginning, mate. But the alternative was so much worse."

[charleyfarley]

"Great post Chim - Well done Haz that must have been very difficult to do mate. West Ham 67 glad to see things all seem to be going in the right direction, you've worked hard to get on top of your problems well done mate"

[fraser]

Haz - well done

[Haz]

"I'm 39 years clean and sober today. For me, one is too many, a thousand never enough. Best move I've ever made tbh. Good luck to you gents on your respective journeys."

[fraser]

Nice to hear you're doing well '67

[Westham67]

MPI . Very true I didn't know until I had finished CBT . Once I started my recognize my own negative thoughts I realized I had been sick for over 5 years

[Moncurs Putting Iron]

"67, That paragraph encapsulates your progress, there are no guarantees in this life but knowing oneself, especially areas where we need help and going to get it before its apparent you need it? My friend that is massive. Good luck x"

[Westham67]

I start therapy again today. Its my brother's cancer diagnosis I having anxiety attacks again plus low mood..At least I can recognise it now. I didn't know what CBT was until I read it on this thread. Very helpful to share on here rather worry family

[Moncurs Putting Iron]

"January gets a bad rap, mostly 'cause it has to tidy up the mess caused by Decembers afterparty :-) Everyday in January the days are getting longer, I see that every day on my dog walks. Yes January is cold but it is not often wet, making it ideal for wrapping up warm and getting out for fresh air. Pubs, restaurants and even supermarkets are quiet so if you can keep some powder dry in December it's actually a nice time to get out without the freaks and support local businesses. Stay lovely WHOers keep looking to the light."

[Sniper]

"That’s a great post chim. Hope everyone is doing ok. Long dark nights, cold weather, no money and crap hammers performances aren’t a great cocktail in January. This thread is a genuine light for many, thanks to all those who contribute to keep it that way"

[Moncurs Putting Iron]

Good post Chim and very typical of you. The Season of goodwill shouldn't have a hangover period but it often does.

[chim chim cha boo]

"Gentlemen I hope we all got through Christmas and New Year relatively intact? If you are over 10 years old Christmas, for me anyway, just becomes a time for reflection and that can lead to melancholy, especially if you don't have good company to share it with. Then the credit card bills start rolling in and you realise how much you spent and overspent. Between now and the end of February are traditionally the hardest weeks of the year as Christmas started in October and adverts, shops and the media goaded you and me to spend more than we have and now we have to face the consequences. It's a lot of old bollocks for a few Brussels sprouts once a year, isn't it? Hold steady boys, one foot in front of the other, make it to the end of another day, do some exercise if you can like getting out and walking round the block and keep your chin guarded. I wish ALL of you the very best. Just PLEASE get through January and February."

[Westham67]

"The Sacred History , by Johnathon Black award winning book. How Mystics and Higher Intelligence Made Our World First Well worth a read if you want to get your head in order along with Carl Jung has the world got a soul Life is suffering, in one was or the other. In the days of Sanskrit things were being written the were being written in different parts of the world that were with a similar mantra everything including humans are connected to the cosmos. All one mass"

[Westham67]

"The Sacred History , by Johnathon Black award winning book. How Mystics and Higher Intelligence Made Our World First Well worth a read if you want to get your head in order along with Carl Jung has the world got a soul Life is suffering, in one was or the other. In the days of Sanskrit things were being written the were being written in different parts of the world that were with a similar mantra everything including humans are connected to the cosmos. All one mass"