gambling heavily since my girlfriend left me

[Johno]

Hi, let me get this out of the way first. My name is Johno and I'm 35. I split up with my girlfriend about a year and a half ago after 10 years together. She left me for someone new. We used to live together in my flat but she's moved out and I now live by myself.

I feel desperately lonely. I work hard but I never socialise with anybody.

Over the past 6 months I have started to gamble heavily, which I never did before. I waste my wages on slot machines. I have 4 credit cards maxxed out and I'm so far behind with my rent payments my landlord is threatening to evict me.

Any advice on how to get me out of this mess?

[moogle]

are there any support groups you can go to? is there a way that you can get away from the slot machines? (depending on where you live and what your situation is..getting away might be more important than your job if you are spending all your money that way anyway). that wouldn't be a permanent solution to the actual problem, but at least you wouldn't be broke. it sounds like you have a pretty big gambling problem and should seek some professional help.
as far as the loneliness goes, i think we can all identify with that. i guess the only way to fix that is to decide to make a change and then just do it. you said you're a hard worker, well getting over inhibitions is hard work, but it's often worth it.

if i'm not making any sense it's b/c i got up too early.

[Shane]

Moogle gave a lot of advice. As you said in your post, you use gambling to fill their void left by you girlfriend. Finding a gamblers annonymous support group could be something you need to look into.