Ex-gambling addict, Bray Ash, is on the road to recovery after once gambling his student loan away in just 24 hours.
Bray Ash, 27, grew up loving the adrenaline of gambling. From playing on the two pence slot machines as a child, to entering adulthood and spending hours gambling online. Bray, who lives on the border between London and Kent, soon realised that his harmless gambling habits were escalating quickly into a problem.
It all started when he was feeling down at boarding school which resulted in him gambling more. He said: “There is a connection between being unhappy and gambling taking that feeling away.”
However the constant gambling over time left him feeling depressed. “The more I got sucked in the more my emotions would be up and down,” said Bray. He added: “I was the typical gambler being greedy and not knowing when to stop because as soon as you win you can’t.”
In 2012 Bray started studying at Leeds Becket University where he turned to using his student loan as a way to fund his addiction.
After once gambling all of his student loan away in 24 hours he soon lost the value of money. He said: “70% of all the loans I received at University went on gambling.” However, Bray came from a wealthy family therefore he didn’t need to worry about his own money management. He said: “I didn’t respect money how I should do because I didn’t have the responsibility of paying my rent as most of it was paid for me.”
Bray regrets not doing everything that he could have done at University due to his gambling habits. He said: “These are the best years of your life so why was I wasting that money gambling when I should be going out with my mates every night.”
Bray believes that his addiction was destined to happen wherever he ended up. He said: “Being closer to home would have been beneficial but I think I would have still been gambling.” He added: “With an addiction I think you have just got to deal with the route of the problem. You can’t just keep moving away because it is still going to be there.”
Bray’s gambling addiction put a massive strain on his families’ lives with there being a lot of arguments, stresses and worries. He said: “You don’t realise that you are doing it at the time, the extent of what you are doing and you don’t even care.” He added: “I was more interested in gambling than how it affected them.”
Throughout his life, Bray, has had a variety of help to get him on the road to recovery. The help included having sessions with the charity GamCare and speaking to professionals at the National Problem Gambling Clinic before going into Gordon Moody’s residential rehab in February 2018. He said: “I think the only way forward for people with an addiction is residential rehab.” After being out of Gordon Moody for 750 days Bray has only gambled a maximum of ten times since. He said: “Even though you make changes you come back out and there are old habits. You have a massive pattern of behaviour for so long so when you go somewhere for 14 weeks it doesn’t just change.” He added: “Every time it’s happened it’s been a learning curve and the periods in-between become longer.”
Bray now openly talks about his experience to raise awareness and support younger people (students) who face the same problem.
Comentários