I started playing when I was about 14 years old. I liked watching football and slowly started making bets. Time passed and I couldn’t imagine that this would completely change my life. The next step was poker. I wondered why I had to work at all, when I could quietly do at home what gave me pleasure and at the same time made money with all this. As I was growing up, emotions and problems were growing along with me. Then, I got into a situation where the money I earned was often no longer enough to me and I preferred to either totally loses what I had or earn more. I can’t express these feelings in words. The loss was an emotion that was destroying me from the inside (all of this was exacerbated by, for example, playing with someone else’s money or playing with money earned in a hopeless situation and other similar situations).
In short, I was spinning in a circle and I felt like it was a monster inside me. If I won, I would be fulfilled emotionally, the inner emptiness would be covered, and then I would think that I was a full-fledged person. Resentment, anger, irritability – emotions that were crumbling me, and when they faded and I felt like a full person, my self-esteem was on point.
It all lasted until another desire to play hit me. I couldn’t imagine living without a game at all. Many things were changing in my life, but the game was always there. As I see now, I used to manipulate people I loved and I took advantage of it to always get what I wanted. I blamed everyone, I thought that someone else was to blame for my condition, I thought that I did not deserve to be in a bad situation, that I was a good person, and especially blamed family members and the people who stood by me.
Over time, experienced a crash in everything in every area of my life, anything that intersected with the game – be it a relationship, a job, or something, the game was stronger than anything, I gave up everything. I wished I could keep the good things in my life, but the game was closest to me because It gave me emotions that nothing and no one else could give. My first step was to confess at home and say – the game was much stronger than me and it ruled me. The few people left around me, all very tired of my life, though I realized I was very tired myself.
I took responsibility and started looking for a solution, I was looking for it with all my heart and I found it very soon. I met people who actually showed me my problem, showed me that it’s a disease. With the understanding of all this and the help of the people who have made it through their lives, I overcame this problem. The best step in my life was when I admitted all this and asked for help.
Hello, I am Giorgi, 28 years old, from Tbilisi. I have been actively playing since I was 14 years old. At first, I just wanted to have fun, and slowly it turned into an uncontrollable constant need. I almost always played and when I couldn’t play, I was just thinking about it. Within a few years, new harmful “friends” appeared in my life, in the form of alcohol and soft drugs.
My life belonged to everything except me. Each day started with thinking about how to earn money by playing. I couldn’t control and refuse until I met people with the same experience who were united in one struggle and together tried to get out of this hell.
Today I am already in control of myself. The most important thing is to admit that you are addicted to the game.
Nowadays in Georgia, there is an opportunity to meet people who gather daily, share experiences, and personal stories. This can help you to become a part of a big change in other people’s or your own life.
I started playing poker at the age of eight. I dreamed of becoming a professional player. I played anywhere and anytime.
For me, gambling has become like a drug. I justified myself by saying that I was just cool in the game. Along with playing, I also became addicted to alcohol. My wife dragged me out of this when she asked me what I preferred – to be a good dad or a poker champion?
I turned to specialists and started working on myself: I realized that the main driving force behind gambling addiction was my insecurities and low self-esteem. Gradually,
I overcame this feeling and for eight years I have been helping people with these problems.
I periodically talk to others – the elderly, patients in medical centers, or those who have been convicted of such conversations by a court. I know their problems and I understand them best.
Too many people live with this problem. I want to tell them that there is a solution, the main thing is to admit it and ask for help.
