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Set your safety priorities

You set help and a written pause before any filter. Gambling can cause harm, and a local blocker only delays some websites. This is general information, not personal, clinical, or legal advice. Book support if harm is already present.

Name the harm before you touch settings

Write three lines: money you cannot afford to lose, time you hide, and a relationship or job already strained. Keep the note offline. If any line is already true, stop the software plan and contact help today.

Chasing losses, borrowing to play, and lying about bets are long-recognised warning patterns, not tactics to manage. Do not look for a system that promises recovery through more play. Close the session and tell one trusted adult what you wrote.

Use public support, not a private guess

The National Council on Problem Gambling has long worked on awareness and pathways to help in the United States. Start with its public materials, then speak to a qualified clinician about your own case. Do not treat a website checklist as counselling.

SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is the US public agency that publishes treatment-locator and mental-health information. Use its official site to find services where you live. Confirm current contact routes there, because they change.

NIMH, the National Institute of Mental Health, publishes research-based material on mental health conditions that can sit beside gambling harm. Read it for context, then ask a professional how it applies to you. Do not self-diagnose from a brochure.

Gamblers Anonymous is a long-standing peer fellowship built around meetings, not a clinic and not this site. If peer support fits you, find a meeting through its own channels. Pair it with clinical care when a professional recommends that.

Gambling can cause harm, and help is available. Technical barriers do not replace qualified help or personal advice. Open the National Council on Problem Gambling site, then tell one person you started that step. National Council on Problem Gambling (opens in a new tab) · SAMHSA (opens in a new tab) · NIMH (opens in a new tab)

Separate software from treatment

Barrier: A hosts entry, Screen Time limit, or extension that blocks a category on a device you administer. Use it after support is arranged.
Treatment: Care from a qualified professional. Book it yourself; this site cannot refer you as a patient.
Account tool: Self-exclusion programmes run by regulators or operators in some places. Read the official rules where you live, and do not expect this site to enrol you.

Legal gambling age is not uniform. Check the law where you live before you open, keep, or close an account. Do not use these pages as a legal opinion.

Write a pause rule you can keep

Pick a cooling-off length you will not negotiate at night.
Name who holds spare admin access if you tend to uninstall blocks.
Remove saved cards from the devices you still use for ordinary shopping, through each bank’s own controls.
Put the review date on a paper calendar, not only in an app you can dismiss.

Finish the list before you open Choose layers. If you cannot name a person or a clinician, pause the build.

Next: Choose layers · Maintain blocks