Derbyshire woman self publishes book on journey to overcoming gambling addiction in hope of helping others

A woman from North East Derbyshire who previously lost thousands of pounds gambling on slot machines, has self-published a book about her journey to overcoming her addiction.
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Stacey Goodwin, who works as a sales manager at a gas company and lives in Holmewood, has written a book called ‘The Girl Gambler: A young woman's story of her escape from gambling addiction’ in the hope it will help other gamblers, particularly women be free of their addiction.

The 28-year-old’s book is now on sale for £13.99 on Amazon after she decided to self-publish her story about her addiction in order to donate a larger percentage of the royalties to anti-gambling charities.

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In the book, she shares how her addiction first started 10 years ago, when she first got a job in a bookies before it then spiralled into her losing thousands of pounds on slot machine and online gambling sites.

Stacey pictured with her first book, 'The Girl Gambler: A young woman's story of her escape from gambling addiction'.Stacey pictured with her first book, 'The Girl Gambler: A young woman's story of her escape from gambling addiction'.
Stacey pictured with her first book, 'The Girl Gambler: A young woman's story of her escape from gambling addiction'.

Stacey, who has been in recovery for two years was inspired to write about how she overcame her addiction – which started when she visited a women’s retreat for gamblers and then helped her regain control of her life.

The sales manager hopes her book can make it easier for other people, particularly women, who are struggling with gambling addictions to access support – as she features a number of charities, website banning software companies and resources to help those with gambling issues.

She said: "My practical advice for getting better is to not be able to gamble.

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"Have the blockers in place and the software in place that means you don't have access to your own money.

"I know how hard your brain will work to try and work around everything so you can do it even if you don't want to.

"There are tools out there that I didn't know about before I went to rehab but I do now."

She also recently launched a campaign to hide scratch cards from tills in supermarkets and instead put them behind a covered screen to make it less triggering for those with gambling addictions.

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Stacey used to buy up to 10 scratch cards in one go at the height of her addiction and and thinks moving scratch cards from plain sight will help prevent those struggling with gambling from relapsing.

For information about gambling addictions, call the free, 24/7 Be Gamble Aware helpline on 0808 8020 133.

Alternatively you can contact Gam Care, who provide telephone and online support without charge on 0808 8020 133 or Gamblers Anonymous for group support.

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