irmaj1,

Ten yrs is a very long time to struggle with the pain & misery that
an addict can bring into your life. In my case it was my ex who had
the gambling problem & my efforts in dealing with her sound very
similar to the ordeal that you went through with your son.

I'm glad you found this message board & the support you were looking
for. I'm also very grateful that you found the inner strength to
stop enabling your son's gambling. Of course you are going to worry
about him … he's your son & that's what parents do.

But like others have said … understand that by stopping the enabling
you gave your son the greatest present you could give him. You gave
him a chance … an chance to face the consequences of his poor
decisions … a chance to understand what his gambling problem was
doing to himself & the people who love him …and (most importantly) a
chance to commit to recovery & save his life before he surrenders it
to this terrible addiction we call compulsive gambling.

Good Luck & God Bless,
Gary B.


--- In gamanonsupportgroup@yahoogroups.com, "irmaj1"
<irmajestrada@...> wrote:
>
> Where to start...ten years of suffering through my adult son's
> addiction have left me financially devastated, ill, and heartbroken
> and thanks to this support group I found the strentgh to quit
> enabling him. I haven't heard from him in two weeks and I still
worry
> if he's Ok or in a homeless shelter or worse...but thanks to all of
> your encouraging words I realized that I had to help myself first.
I
> only pray that he too will see the light I got to the end of my
rope
> and "tied a knot". God bless all of you.
>