Now, let's begin!

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My name is Ana, and I'm a thirty-five-year-old woman from Brazil who has been struggling with a gambling 2️⃣ addiction for years. My story starts when I was in my early twenties when I started to play the lottery 2️⃣ regularly. At first, it was just a fun way to dream about the possibilities of winning big, but it quickly 2️⃣ became an addiction that consumed my life. I began to spend more and more money on lottery tickets, hoping that 2️⃣ the next win would be the one that changed my life forever.

I remember the rush of excitement I would get 2️⃣ when I first started playing. I would check the results eagerly, hoping to see that I had won the jackpot. 2️⃣ But as the weeks went by, I started to realize that I wasn't winning anything significant, yet I continued to 2️⃣ spend money without thinking about the consequences.

After a few months, I noticed my addiction was worsening. I was spending a 2️⃣ considerable amount of my monthly salary on lottery tickets and was now taking risks like playing with figures that went 2️⃣ up to 40% of my income. The uncertainty in the pandemic only worsened my behavior, as I found solace in 2️⃣ the escape of gambling. I started to lie to my family and play more frequently, so much so that I 2️⃣ even skipped work to play the lottery. I was so hooked that I took out loans and even sold some 2️⃣ of my belongings to fund my addiction.