 She recalled: 'I hit rock bottom. I was hopeless and completely lost. I didn't know how I was going to get out of it. 'I went to the doctors and they didn't know what to do with me. I wasn't eating, and I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't concerned about looking after myself.' It was only when she had maxed out all her credit cards in April 2021 that she reached out to Gamblers Anonymous, which helped her turn her life around, although she still has debts of around £60,000. Compulsive gambling is a mental health problem,' she said. 'For me it was a distraction from emotional problems – a compulsion that made my brain calm down. It put strain on all my relationships. 'I was losing such extreme amounts of money and I can't believe the banks were allowing me to have this amount of credit cards. I didn't always think I would win but there was some){kind=link}
Once she won tens of thousands over a week, Christine Tolaini then gambled the lot to lose £70,000 in just four hours. She said she ‘hit rock bottom’ and the crushing incident prompted her to get help
A hairdresser could not break her desperate betting habit even when she lost almost two years’ salary in a Âsingle afternoon playing  online slot machines.
Now Christine Tolaini, 39, has come back from the brink and is determined to use her own experience help other female gambling addicts.
A disturbing new survey reveals that struggling women are turning to betting more and more as fuel and energy costs drive up the cost of living.
Christine became hooked on mobile phone game Rainbow Riches in 2016 and in five years she blew more than £100,000 of savings, credit and winnings.