“Right now, I am five months and 18 days gamble-free. I think that’s probably the longest I’ve gone.”
For Lori, her struggle with online gambling started in 2022 with a small, $20 bet on an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation website. It didn’t take long for her gambling to spiral out of control.
“It was another 20 bucks and another 20 bucks, and then I started looking for other websites,” said Lori. “And I found them.”
For a while, Lori managed to keep afloat. She’d win some, lose some, and it wasn’t a problem. But slowly, she started losing more money.
“That hurt, and I needed to tell my husband. He had no idea.
“I’m paying off debts now that I still have another three years to pay,” said Lori. “It took me a lot of stupid places that I thought I would never go, like borrowing and borrowing, taking out stupid loans at 35 per cent.”
Lori has been unable to work since 2014 due to a progressive physical disability. Her job, running a showroom at an industrial supply company, was physically demanding, and soon became too much.
Being at home all the time and not having a focus to her days was difficult for Lori, and meant that online gambling had a strong attraction. The easy access – and ease of hiding the extent of her gambling – meant that it was a hard habit to break.
Through House of Friendship’s Community Counselling program, where participants are connected directly with their own counsellor, Lori began to dig deeper into the reasons behind her addiction.
“Kelly, my counsellor, helped me bring out a lot of stuff I had never dealt with,” said Lori. “She helped me get to the root of my problems, and face a lot of the hard things I’ve dealt with in my life.”
Counselling helped Lori develop the tools she needs to keep away from online gambling, and she has begun to build a support network for herself to stick to her goals.
She also gets to meet weekly with a Zoom gambling support group facilitated through House of Friendship.
“It’s a huge help talking to other people with the same addiction,” said Lori. “We cheer each other on.”
And now that she’s starting to have some success, Lori wants others who are struggling to know something important.
“This doesn’t define you,” said Lori. “This is not the end of your life. If I can get past it, you can get past it. Everyone deserves the chance to break free.”
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