u/Healthy-Campaign-506

Currently a 26M that has gambled for about two weeks so far. Never gambled before in my life, and I thought it was always stupid when I saw sports betting or casino ads. It started when I saw an ad for an online casino while watching a movie with my girlfriend thought to myself, “why not? I’ll just put in $20 and see what happens.” In hindsight, that was a terrible idea. I’ve lost about $2800, which I know is not the end in the grand scheme of things, but holy shitttt I understand why gambling sucks so much now. For context, I’m currently applying to med school this year, have a loving girlfriend, a good family, great friends, rock climb a lot, but this damn thing has slowly crept into the back of my mind the past two weeks. I feel like my daily routine is so off, and I don’t enjoy the other things I actually love and care about. I always heard stories about people who gamble for decades. They lose their jobs, families, relationships, and then go into 5, 6, or 7 figures in debt regretting that the day they gambled in the first place. I always thought it was so ridiculous to be addicted to such thing, but I completely understand now. I’ve self-excluded from any online casinos, sports betting apps, and any physical casinos in my state. Installed Gamban on my phone as well. It’s going to be about a month and a half worth of work to earn that money back. I know I have a lot going for me, and I’ll end up losing everything if I continue. I just wanted to vent and apologize for judging those with this terrible addiction. I get it now