BK again 8+ years later

[Phillymanhere]

Dealings,

I would make sure you have 6 months to maybe a year of "sobriety" before I'd file. And remember there are several things you need to keep in mind here:

1.) You do need to get to the "underlying" cause ... most likely there are many and most likely this is a never-ending journey. There usually is no one cause. There are probably many--from genetics and brain functioning to family issues and emotional underdevelopment.

2.) You also just need to stop even before you fully heal from the "underlying" cause .... because

3.) With a long-ingrained habit, getting at the "underlying" cause doesn't mean you have beaten or undermined the addiction/compulsion. One cause of addiction is years of indulging the addiction! The ingrained habit is its own cause. That's why addictions and compulsions are so horrible. It's not that if I revisit some childhood injury, I can beat this; it's more like you revisit a childhood issue/trauma and you get at why you started the addiction, why you were vulnerable to it.

4.) I want to enourage you--you can beat this damaging and destructive habit, but I don't want you to underestimate the work involved. One bit of faulty (though seemingly reasonable) logic is to think that once you address the abuse/pain/suffering/deprivation, etc., you can beat the habit. Not that simple.

5.) And yes, I speak from experience.

[dealingsdone]

Thanks Phillyman,

Who knows or cares about the cause of my bad gambling habit. In my mind, I began enjoying gambling as a child, literally a child. I used to play gambling games with my baseball cards. I did not realize it was gambling, I just thought it was fun! Right from the onset there has been very little that has compared to how I feel while gambling. This has worked against me for a long time, and will be a huge challenge to stop. I know I must stop entirely in order to live a better life. It will not be easy to give up gambling which I have enjoyed & other times deeply disliked. The consequences have been severe for me and I would definately say not worth it...I appreaciate you speaking from experience on this thread.

[BKSorrow]

Did the trustee, treat you differently? Our trustee at the 341 said we were in a category or "frequent gamers" and we are now scheduled for our 3rd trustee meeting. Most of our debt is not even related to the gambling but they keep wanting to dig further. "How much or your credit card debt in 2005 was for gambling" I don't know!! I can't remember where I put my car keys last night!. What I really want to know is do you feel like you are being treated differently? I felt like I was being humiliated in room full of other people who have no idea.