JSMR's story

My little bro is only 20 years of age. We were separated at a young age when he was only 9 years old. He was raised by our dad who suffered a gambling addiction for horse and dog racing. Our mother was an alcoholic. The gambling addiction was eventually passed onto my brother. From a young age he learned if he wanted to make a quick buck then he would have to gamble the little amount he had. He started stealing from our dad's work credit card to use online betting.

Since he turned 18 he could legally gamble which enabled him even more and encouraged more, manipulating and lies to get money.

Recently I have reunited with my little brother - he has moved to Perth to live with me. I'm so happy to be able to finally get to spend quality time together again & rebuild our bond we had as children that somehow seemed a little lost over the years. It didn't take long for his addiction to become obvious.

He was acting extremely depressed and strange, and completely stopped interacting. He would lay in bed all day and never leave the house, unusual behaviour from someone who has just scored himself a truck driving job in the mines earning up to $2500 a week!!! He was so hard to talk to and would often avoid eye contact. He seemed very distant and always distracted from conversation. Not very nice to be around and I would often find myself getting very frustrated with his difficult behaviour.

On his birthday April this year he finally admitted to me he had a gambling addiction and had been suffering from the age of approximately 15 years. I was very proud of him as I could see how hard it was for him to get the words out. Since then his moods have slightly perked up..

I guess some weight was lifted off his shoulders that day. I didn't know much about gambling addicts and was uneducated – I still don't fully understand the addiction. I'm trying to learn new tools and get all the info I need to help him beat this!

He recently purchased his first ever car on finance worth $20,000 I could see the pride in his face that finally he has something decent in his life that he earned all by himself. Unfortunately he couldn't even make his FIRST car payment, due to his addiction completely clearing out his account. I hope he overcomes this illness before it's too late. Our whole family is so worried that this addiction may lead to prison or even suicide.

Now I have found this website I'm very grateful as already I have more ideas that I believe will help my bro thanks to everyone's posts!

Bro if your reading this, I love you with all of my heart!

My lil bro is the most sweetest, sensitive guy with deep emotions and a massive warm heart! He carries a lot of sadness and guilt around with him, I can see the pain on his face. I know he feels like a failure ... but he is far from a failure! He has his whole life ahead. He is a very good looking handsome young man. All I want is for him to find happiness in his life, to meet a girl and have friends, to achieve his dreams of being a golf pro.

I just hope now we can all unite together as a family and help beat this evil illness.

Good luck to everyone else too. Very brave to admit you're an addict.