Latest / Collectors MD Features / #11: How Sports Cards Led To A Gambling Addiction | ODAAT Gambling Awareness

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#11: How Sports Cards Led To A Gambling Addiction | ODAAT Gambling Awareness · Collectors MD Features

0:00
You know, these platforms use the same psychological
0:02
tactics and triggers as gambling apps and casinos
0:06
do. You know, for a lot of people, it's just
0:07
not a hobby anymore. It's become a high -speed
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cycle of chasing, spending, justifying, and regretting.
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I had all these cards and all of these sneakers,
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too. For some sick reason, I felt like I had
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earned those. To get from Jersey City to Staten
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Island and back on a Friday night, I had lost,
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like, $10 ,000. It's... disgusting to think back.
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Today's podcast guest is Alyx Effron, and he shares
0:29
his story of gambling addiction, but also specifically
0:31
his story of getting addicted to collecting,
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whether that be trading cards or other things.
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But before we dive into his story, I have just
0:38
one favor to ask from you. There's so many of
0:41
you that watch this channel regularly, but aren't
0:43
yet subscribed. If you would do me the honor
0:46
of hitting that subscribe button, then my promise
0:48
to you is that I'm going to continue to work
0:50
hard each and every day to spread the message
0:52
that gambling addiction is real. You ended up
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with a gambling addiction, a gambling problem.
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Do you want to tell us kind of how it reached
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that point? Yeah, absolutely. So I'm 35. I have
1:06
been a sports fan my entire life, and gambling
1:10
has become mainstream, right? So we see it everywhere.
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It's sort of baked into our day -to -day, our
1:19
lifestyles, especially as sports fans. casino
1:23
and sportsbooks ads everywhere you go. Friends
1:25
talking about it. Fellow fans talking about it.
1:29
You even hear it in the workplace. And it's just
1:32
become more and more popular and mainstream.
1:36
And so probably date back to, I don't know, 2016,
1:40
2017, when apps like DraftKings and FanDuel started
1:44
to become more popular amongst... sports fans,
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I was kind of dipping my toe and just exploring
1:55
what it was like to place a bet on a game. I
2:00
enjoyed it. It made watching the game that much
2:02
more exciting when you had some stake in it.
2:05
And so what started as something that was really
2:09
lighthearted and not that serious started to
2:13
spiral. I've been a collector my whole life.
2:16
I collect sneakers, sports cards, memorabilia,
2:19
you name it. I've been involved in it in some
2:23
capacity. And so that paired with the option
2:28
of being able to make money through, you know,
2:32
basically your knowledge in sports, just it was
2:35
very attractive to me. something I got heavily
2:39
involved in. And as time went on, I got more
2:42
and more sucked in and, you know, was making
2:45
money from bets and then taking that money and
2:48
spending it on a pair of sneakers or a box of
2:50
sports cards. And this sort of vicious cycle
2:54
started to really spiral. And, you know, fast
2:59
forward to the pandemic, I got really involved
3:02
in the sports card hobby and community. I started
3:06
breaking. If you're not familiar with breaking,
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it's this concept of community opening up a box
3:14
of cards so that everybody can get a little piece.
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The prices of a box of cards is absolutely astronomical
3:20
compared to what it used to be. And so in order
3:23
to be involved, in order to maybe hit a card
3:27
that you're looking for, you can participate
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in. Again, what's called a card break where you're
3:33
assigned a specific team or a player or a parallel
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or something of that nature where you could obtain
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one of or a handful of cards from a box amongst
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other people that are also participating. And
3:50
so I was introduced to that. I was actually breaking.
3:54
I was on the breaking side and I got. really
3:57
into it, you know, really enjoyed the whole experience
4:00
and the community and meeting new people and,
4:03
you know, being involved with, you know, an experience
4:07
that was rooted in nostalgia, something that
4:09
I enjoyed as a kid, grew up in the 90s. So, of
4:13
course, you know, sports cards and Pokemon and
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things of that nature were always really, really
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exciting for me. And so, you know, it just kind
4:23
of became more and more. of an addiction over
4:27
a relatively short period of time. And fast forward
4:31
a year, year and a half, I was spending so much
4:33
money on cards and breaks and the chase, the
4:37
dopamine rush, which is ultimately what I was
4:39
subconsciously after. And so that paired with
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the gambling, I started to play blackjack, specifically
4:46
live blackjack, live casinos within apps on your
4:50
phone. And again, it was this vicious cycle where
4:53
I needed that immediate fix. I needed that you
4:56
know that that quick hit uh and i would join
4:59
a break you know these breaks again astronomical
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you can join high -end breaks that cost thousands
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of dollars i'd be after you know a card and whether
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or not i hit or not i still wanted to recoup
5:10
the money so i would hop on the blackjack and
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uh try to win it back and uh at one point i thought
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i was this you know expert blackjack player and
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um it just it got ugly really really quickly
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uh you know i found myself going down a very
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dark path it was a very slippery slope obviously
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there are ebbs and flows to addiction and there
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were times where i was up a lot of money there
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were other times where i was down a lot of money
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and i felt like i had hit rock bottom and so
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there were a few instances in particular that
5:41
i can recall that led me to acknowledging that
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i had a problem and so i started to go to gamblers
5:47
anonymous meetings I also sought outpatient treatment
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through a recovery program that I know you know
5:54
very well, Right Choice Recovery, led by Rob
5:57
Sackowitz. I did that for several months, along
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with the Gamblers Anonymous meetings. I attended
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therapy. I had a psychiatrist, therapist, all
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these things to try to rewire my brain and figure
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out the root cause of all of this. A huge part
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of the problem for me was that it wasn't necessarily
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the gambling that I was addicted to. It was really
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just the chase. I just, you know, had this inherent
6:23
desire to obtain something that was hard to obtain.
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uh hard to sort of articulate but um it was always
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about like the exclusive pair of sneakers or
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that card that everybody's talking about whether
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it be an athlete like cooper flag or caitlin
6:40
clark or victor webbing yama that's like really
6:43
uh hyped and everybody's excited about you know
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i always wanted to sort of be at the center of
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that conversation and be involved in some capacity
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and so there's a lot of fomo sort of baked into
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this and the hype and the Again, the dopamine
6:57
and the chase, the rush, all of these things
7:00
like, you know, just made my brain go nuts. And
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that's what led me to, you know, the place I'm
7:09
in today, which is a recovering gambling addict.
7:12
And ultimately led me to found a mission based
7:17
platform called Collectors MD. And that's what
7:20
I'm excited to talk about today with you. just
7:22
before we dive into what collectors md is all
7:24
about you had mentioned that there was a couple
7:26
of instances that you can remember that really
7:28
got you to wake up and pursue recovery would
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you be comfortable sharing one of them just to
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kind of illustrate it for the audience like what
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was it that got you to realize that this chase
7:38
for the big hit this chase for the next rare
7:40
item was actually leading you down a bad path
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yeah absolutely so i would say in the first couple
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of years uh of of being involved with the sports
7:50
cards and really really just kind of spiraling
7:53
with the blackjack and the and the gambling um
7:56
i was spending an extremely high volume on the
8:00
sports cards to the point where i had these cases
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filled to the brim of just high -end cards i'm
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not talking about just base cards i'm talking
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about autographs one of ones just ultra -modern
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high -end cards that were each individually worth
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a ton of money and so in order to obtain them
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i was you know not just working my full -time
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job which you know all in all was pretty successful
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in but i was also gambling so i could earn this
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sort of uh additional disposable income that
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i can then spend on on the cards and so um i
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was doing pretty well for for quite some time
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at one point you know i know we always talk about
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that the amount of money is is relative everybody's
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situation is unique and so a hundred thousand
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dollars to one person uh might not be the same
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to another right uh but at one point i was i
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was up six figures just from gambling and was
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collecting and was enjoying myself and was just
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sort of living life in the flat fast lane this
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was actually the summer of 2022 right before
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i got married i got married in november of 2022
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and so that summer i was just cruising i was
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winning I was buying whatever I wanted and it
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was great. I was enjoying myself. And so fast
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forward to the end of that summer, I would say
9:12
around September, I started to hit a wall and
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I would lose quite a bit, you know, that those
9:19
losses started to really accumulate. And I ended
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up losing everything I had won that summer and
9:24
then some, and I started to spend money that
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I couldn't afford to spend. I had been saving
9:29
up for my wedding. You know, I had my portion
9:31
to contribute and I started to dip into that.
9:34
It got to a point where. All of the money I had
9:36
saved for this wedding was depleted. And the
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wedding was like a month away. And I was at a
9:43
loss. I was just beside myself. I didn't know
9:46
what to do. I didn't know how to handle it. And
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so I went to my parents and explained to them
9:50
the situation. This was the first time I had
9:52
ever admitted to them that I had a gambling problem.
9:55
I was afraid to talk to my wife about it. I was
9:57
afraid to acknowledge that I had a problem and
10:00
that we were... in a dark place and my parents
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basically told me they were like look you know
10:04
uh we'll help you but you also have to figure
10:08
out a solution here and so they were they were
10:11
getting ready to like pull from their retirement
10:13
savings and make sure that this wedding happened
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because there was a lot on the line we had a
10:17
lot of guests coming and um they obviously you
10:20
know wanted to help as much as they could my
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in -laws were already helping more than i could
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ever have asked i mean they were basically covering
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the majority of the funds for the wedding the
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cost of the wedding and so um i couldn't bring
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myself to go to them and so i asked my parents
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to sort of cover what i had owed you know it
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was a rock bottom moment i just felt so pathetic
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i felt like a loser i felt like you know a failure
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and so um i had all these cards and all these
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sneakers too and like it didn't sort of dawn
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on me that i could just go ahead and sell those
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in order to recoup a lot of my losses because
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for some sick reason i felt like i had earned
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those and those were mine and i could never touch
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them right because they were like my my tangible
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investments of sorts for like my alternate assets
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and i also had like you know i think a subconscious
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attachment to them and so it was really really
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hard for me to let go of those and so after speaking
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with my parents i think uh something sort of
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sparked and i realized i can't make my parents
11:19
touch their retirement funds i need to sell some
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cards and so i ended up finding uh a buyer who
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was willing to uh take a large portion of my
11:29
collection in bulk and and pay me a nice chunk
11:32
of change these folks came to my apartment building
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assessed my collection basically appraised it
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which was really hard to do because i had a lot
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of cards and one of the challenges i felt was
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going to be having to sell each card individually
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but when you can find a bulk buyer you know changes
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uh circumstances and so I remember vividly them
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coming over that Friday night. I was so nervous.
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I didn't know how that whole process would go.
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It was my first time making like a major deal
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like that. And so they came by and assessed the
12:07
collection. It was a Friday night. They were
12:09
like, well, you know, we have a show this weekend.
12:11
They basically, their plan was to take those
12:13
cards and run them in a. a live show on an app
12:17
called Whatnot to basically sell them as repacks
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and so they were like you know we need to bring
12:22
the cards back to you know our office so that
12:24
we can get the show started but we can't pay
12:27
you in full until next week and so they ended
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up uh going back to their office or home or wherever
12:33
they came from in staten island i was in jersey
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city at the time uh to go get some some cash
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they gave me some collateral to hold on to And
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they brought back the cash. And all in the meanwhile,
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I'm sitting there nervously playing live blackjack
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because that's what I did. I'm telling myself,
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oh, yeah, I just made back this chunk of change.
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It was like basically everything I lost and then
12:54
some. I can afford to play blackjack right now.
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Wow. That's right before the wedding. Right before
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the wedding. While these guys are going to fetch
13:04
the cash for me, I'm sitting there on my phone
13:06
playing blackjack. Before they could get back,
13:09
which, you know, took about an hour, hour and
13:10
a half to get from Jersey City to Staten Island
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and back on a Friday night, I had lost like 10
13:15
grand playing blackjack. And it's just, it's
13:19
disgusting to think back that, you know, that's
13:22
how my mind worked. It just worked in such disillusioned,
13:27
insidious ways that didn't make sense. I had
13:30
a problem, a real addiction. Fast forward to
13:33
the wedding. It happened. I took care of it and
13:36
I was still gambling, making money back. And,
13:40
you know, we went on our little mini moon and
13:44
had a great time and I came back and I think
13:46
it was the weekend after where at this point
13:49
we had received a lot of money as gifts right
13:52
from the wedding. And I had that set aside in
13:55
the same account and I was gambling again and
13:57
I ended up. touching that i something that i
14:02
never thought a million years i would do but
14:03
in that sort of crisis mode when you're on tilt
14:08
losing money at a rapid pace your mind doesn't
14:11
work as it should and i started to take money
14:14
out of that account and before i knew it you
14:17
know the most of it was gambled away and at that
14:20
point it was like i gotta do something here this
14:24
is not okay And I went to my in -laws and had
14:28
a really hard conversation with them about everything
14:30
I had been doing. Obviously, I had, you know,
14:32
basically come clean to my wife and she obviously
14:36
wasn't happy. We were married all of a month.
14:39
And at that point, you know, my father -in -law
14:41
was willing to basically float me some money
14:43
to bail me out of this situation that I got myself
14:46
in. And I had agreed with. them and my family
14:51
that I would start going to Gamblers Anonymous
14:53
meetings. This was in December of 2022. And so
14:56
I found a room in Jersey City, started attending
15:00
on a weekly basis, but just really wasn't taking
15:03
it seriously. I was still gambling. I was still
15:06
buying the cards. I was still actively, you know,
15:09
just seeking that chase, that high. And it really
15:12
didn't. Last very long I was winning winning
15:16
winning and then boom April came and I hit another
15:19
wall and lost a whole ton of money in a very
15:21
short stint and This was this was the worst one
15:24
yet. And I remember my wife was away on a Bachelorette
15:29
trip for one of her closest friends and I had
15:32
lost the most money I'd ever lost in like a 48
15:36
hour window and uh i thought it was all over
15:39
i really did i didn't know what to do with myself
15:41
i called my dad just in like an absolute state
15:45
of disarray and told him what i had happened
15:48
he came and picked me up from my apartment i
15:50
went to my parents house that weekend i was just
15:52
paralyzed i remember being paralyzed all weekend
15:55
i didn't know what to do i didn't know how to
15:57
operate and uh i knew my wife was going to come
16:00
back that monday and you know Frankly, I was
16:03
going to have to tell her everything and come
16:06
clean again. And that was the first time that
16:09
I self -excluded. I self -excluded from the gambling
16:12
and from the apps. I couldn't access them anymore.
16:16
And that's when I pursued Right Choice. And so
16:19
I started to go to those meetings in addition
16:22
to the GA. And things started to improve. But,
16:25
you know, obviously, the road to recovery. It
16:28
doesn't end. And there were a lot of ups and
16:30
downs between now and then. But those were the
16:33
three moments I would say right before the wedding,
16:35
right after the wedding. And then in April of
16:37
2023, that really, really were probably the toughest
16:43
times for me in my journey. Struggling with an
16:45
addiction can make you feel like you're all alone.
16:48
But trust me, it doesn't have to be that way.
16:50
At Right Choice Recovery, a family -owned and
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operated treatment center in New Jersey, we are
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here for you. And we're dedicated to helping
16:57
you break free from addiction and change your
16:59
life for the better. Whether you're struggling
17:01
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17:06
real support, and a team that understands exactly
17:09
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17:11
with you on your journey to recovery. Because
17:13
recovery is possible. And it all starts with
17:17
the right choice. Check the description of this
17:19
video today for more information. Yeah, I think
17:21
that the story that you tell resembles the experience
17:24
of the gambling addict. And it's one that I went
17:28
through similar types of experiences, as have
17:30
many of the people that are probably listening
17:32
to this. What's unique about your story is the
17:35
way that you continue collecting throughout.
17:38
And even to this day, you still continue to collect,
17:41
but it's in kind of a different format maybe
17:43
than it was back then. Could you talk to the
17:46
similarities between collecting and traditional
17:49
forms of gambling and maybe also the differences?
17:53
Absolutely. So when people ask how are sports
17:55
cards or trading cards like gambling, it's totally
17:58
a valid question, especially if you haven't been
18:00
immersed in the modern hobby. right by the way
18:03
we call this sports card hobby the hobby uh but
18:07
once you peel back the layers the overlap becomes
18:09
pretty clear so let's start with breaking and
18:11
i brought that up before which is one of the
18:13
most popular formats in the hobby today so in
18:15
a typical break you pay money up front for a
18:18
randomized chance to get cards from a sealed
18:20
box or case okay you don't know what team you'll
18:23
get or what players uh or cards are inside and
18:27
the vast majority of participants walk away with
18:29
cards that are far worth far less than what they
18:33
actually paid and so that's almost identical
18:35
to like buying a lottery ticket or playing a
18:37
slot machine right you're chasing a hit that
18:39
one big card that might make it all worth it
18:41
but just like in gambling the odds are stacked
18:44
up against you even more so actually you know
18:46
whereas like when you sit down to play blackjack
18:48
there's generally a 50 50 chance that you're
18:50
gonna either double your money or lose all your
18:52
money but in this case uh the the odds are stacked
18:55
up against you even more so and the house the
18:57
breaker or the platform always wins 100 of the
19:01
time Then you've got things like fillers, razzes,
19:04
and minis and micros, they call them, which are
19:09
just more layers of gambling. You might pay $10
19:12
for a one in 10 chance at getting into a break.
19:14
That itself is a gamble, right? It's a gamble
19:17
within a gamble. It's just risk layered on risk.
19:20
And the mechanics are designed to keep you hooked.
19:23
There are things all across these platforms like
19:25
Whatnot, Fanatics Live, Loupe, eBay Live, even
19:28
on Instagram and TikTok and Facebook, YouTube,
19:31
other platforms where people are opening the
19:33
cards. But they have things like countdowns,
19:36
spinning wheels, randomizers. These are all dopamine
19:40
triggers. You know, there are things like hit
19:43
bells and flashing animations and deck of cards
19:46
where you're basically asking the breaker, which
19:49
is essentially the dealer, to pull a card out
19:51
of the deck and that'll be your assigned team.
19:53
So even the language in the hobby mirrors gambling.
19:56
You have hit and chase and rip. and jackpot and
20:00
skunked and it's not subtle at all you know there's
20:03
the psychological loop as well which is the tilt
20:06
uh the sunk cost uh fallacy the just one more
20:09
mentality so you spend more trying to win back
20:12
what you've lost or to justify previous losses
20:15
so in that in that case it's it's really no different
20:17
from what we see in casinos or online sports
20:20
betting and the scariest part of it all is that
20:22
you know it's being marketed as a childhood hobby
20:26
you know wrapped in nostalgia and pushed heavily
20:29
to younger audiences and this next generation
20:31
of collectors but again make no mistake these
20:34
are gambling like mechanics and for people like
20:37
myself who are vulnerable to addiction it can
20:40
spiral fast so that's what led me to this movement
20:44
called Collectors MD uh you know ultimately it's
20:47
really to call out raise awareness and help people
20:50
navigate it and navigate their collecting journey,
20:53
their hobby with intention, support, and honesty.
20:57
Yeah, I think it's very needed, especially hearing
21:01
this idea about younger audiences. Because we
21:04
know that younger people, like people that shouldn't
21:06
be gambling, are gambling, right? They're getting
21:08
their accounts from their families. They're using
21:11
VPNs. There's a plethora of ways that people
21:13
are gambling. Sure. But when it comes to cards...
21:17
Is there even a minimum age? I mean, there might
21:20
be a recommended age of, I don't know, 12, but
21:22
there's no minimum, right? There are no age gates,
21:25
and that's the biggest problem that we see in
21:27
the hobby today. Anyone, including a 10 -year
21:31
-old or 12 -year -old, can download an app on
21:33
their phone, their parent's phone, link a credit
21:36
card, sign up for an account, and buy and sell
21:40
cards and boxes on their own. We see it all the
21:45
time. We see these clips, these highlights of
21:46
people, their kids, you know, on these apps.
21:52
They shouldn't be, but they are. And they're
21:56
buying just as much as adults are. I mean, there
21:59
are also these in -person card shows that happen.
22:03
Actually, this week is the biggest one of the
22:05
year. It's called the National in Chicago. And
22:09
you see these. These young kids, again, I'm talking
22:12
about like nine, 10, 11, 12 year olds walking
22:15
the showroom floors with tens of thousands of
22:18
dollars worth of cards, wheeling and dealing
22:21
them to adult distributors and traders like these
22:26
people are buying and selling cards full time.
22:29
You see these kids interacting with them and
22:31
transacting with them as if they're, you know,
22:34
right, right at that same. playing field as the
22:39
adults. It's crazy. I mean, a lot of them, I
22:41
have to hand it to them, are savvy and know their
22:44
way around a business conversation or transaction.
22:48
And I think in some ways, maybe it's beneficial
22:50
that kids are learning how to transact, how to
22:53
do business at a younger age, but there are just
22:55
too many sort of slippery slopes within this
23:01
hobby, layers within layers, that are just too
23:05
dangerous, not just for adults, but especially
23:08
for kids. And there's no sense of education.
23:12
The parents don't get it. They don't understand
23:14
what's going on behind the scenes. They just
23:16
sort of see their kid, you know, opening Pokemon
23:20
cards or sports cards as any other kid would,
23:23
but they're not truly wrapping their heads around
23:26
the fact that there are all of these gambling
23:28
like mechanics that are tied to it. And on top
23:31
of that, they're vulnerable. They're impressionable.
23:35
And these platforms and manufacturers, unapologetically
23:38
target these young kids. They don't care that
23:42
these kids shouldn't be participating in these
23:44
sort of activities. They just want the money
23:47
at the end of the day. And it doesn't matter
23:49
if it's coming from a 12 -year -old or 40 -year
23:51
-old at the end of the day. If they're bringing
23:54
in the paycheck or if they're bringing in the
23:57
dollars, it doesn't matter. It makes no difference.
24:01
And so it's very, very scary. Yeah. if like practically
24:06
at a high level if i'm a parent and i see my
24:09
kid uh interested in this kind of stuff how do
24:12
i know what the difference is between the gambling
24:15
and just collecting yeah um that's that's the
24:20
the hard part and that's where Collectors MD
24:22
comes in we're trying to educate people not just
24:25
collectors not just people who are buying the
24:27
cards but parents and um family members so that
24:31
they can see the warning signs, so they can see
24:34
the triggers and the red flags that pop up from
24:38
time to time to truly understand if somebody
24:42
is collecting with intention or buying with compulsion
24:47
or impulsive spending. And so it's tough. It's
24:52
tough to really see the difference. But I think
24:55
a huge part of it is the break culture that exists
24:59
in today's modern hobby. Um, if somebody is buying
25:03
into a break on a regular basis, uh, where, you
25:06
know, they're just doing it for the chase, they're
25:08
doing it for the rush and there's really no,
25:11
um, end in sight, then it's clearly gambling.
25:15
But if, you know, somebody is being more thoughtful
25:17
and mindful with their purchases, they're spending
25:20
within their means, they're spending within their
25:22
budget. uh they're buying singles on eBay or
25:25
card show or something like that stepping into
25:28
their local card shop and just buying you know
25:30
a few packs of cards or even a box of cards and
25:32
it's just once in a while and they're not spiraling
25:35
every time they do and get skunked then you know
25:38
it's a different conversation but the lines between
25:42
collecting and gambling are so incredibly blurry.
25:44
So again, it's just really, really important
25:46
that we educate folks so that they understand
25:49
the nuances and the differences and can spot
25:52
them, you know, from a mile away when they need
25:54
to. Sure. Well, take me through it. How's Collectors MD
25:57
going to accomplish that? What are you all about?
25:59
Yeah. So, yeah. So I want to take a step back
26:01
and just talk a little bit about Collectors MD
26:03
and, you know, what we are, what we do. And so,
26:06
yeah, I am the founder of Collectors MD. I started
26:12
it in March of 2025, so this year, just four
26:15
months ago. Collectors MD is a peer -led support
26:19
community focused on the mental, emotional, and
26:21
financial side of collecting. And we're working
26:24
with people who love the hobby, but who have
26:26
also found themselves struggling with things
26:28
like compulsive spending, chasing, or even addiction
26:31
-like behaviors, especially in the areas of sports
26:34
cards, memorabilia, sneakers, TCG. TCG stands
26:39
for trading card games. Pokemon, Magic the Gathering,
26:42
things like that, and live breaks. So it really
26:45
started from my own experience that we just talked
26:48
about and what I was seeing in this community,
26:51
in this hobby. And there was sort of this growing
26:53
overlap between collecting and gambling psychology.
26:56
And a lot of people were just quietly feeling
26:59
overwhelmed or out of control or ashamed. And
27:03
there was really just no safe space to talk about
27:05
it. right so many people just felt isolated or
27:08
like they uh you know didn't have any anywhere
27:11
to go and so i launched Collectors MD to change
27:14
that to build a place where people can support
27:17
one another share openly and start collecting
27:20
more intentionally so we host weekly meetings
27:23
um they're anonymous peer support meetings very
27:26
similar to Gamblers Anonymous We put out daily
27:29
content that includes things like Daily Reflections,
27:32
Collector Spotlight. We have a podcast called
27:34
The Collector's Compass. I just launched a new
27:37
video series called Behind the Breaks last week,
27:39
which I'm really excited about. And we also put
27:42
out educational content. We started partnering
27:44
with organizations like Birches Health and Gamban
27:47
to help people access professional resources
27:50
when they need it. And at the core, our mission
27:54
is really simple. It's to help people collect
27:56
with intention instead of compulsion. We're not
28:00
anti -hobby. We always preach that. We're just
28:03
trying to create a healthier, more supportive
28:05
culture where people can still enjoy what they
28:08
love without losing themselves in the process.
28:11
And it's grown extremely fast in just a short
28:14
four months. We've had hundreds of people reach
28:16
out, join our meetings, share their stories.
28:19
And it's been... so powerful to watch. So whether
28:24
someone needs to completely step away from collecting,
28:26
abstain completely, or just needs help creating
28:29
better boundaries around it, we're here to walk
28:32
that path with them with no judgment and just
28:34
support. That's awesome, man. And I always love
28:36
when people create something that's rooted in
28:39
their own experience, because I feel like we're
28:40
always the most qualified to help the person
28:42
that we used to be. To someone that's watching
28:44
this and feeling like... hey, maybe they're on
28:47
that border of collecting is pretty fun, but
28:49
I'm starting to have some problems. What would
28:51
you say to them? So if you're watching this and
28:54
thinking, you know, this might be me or I'm starting
28:58
to spiral or experience something similar. A
29:01
lot of this happens subconsciously. People don't
29:03
even realize that they have a problem until it's
29:05
too late. We just want people to know that they're
29:08
not alone. You're not weak. You're not broken.
29:10
You're human. And you're reacting to a system
29:13
that is literally. engineered to keep you hooked
29:16
so whether it's sports cards breaks or even online
29:19
shopping you know these platforms use the same
29:22
psychological tactics and triggers as gambling
29:25
apps and casinos do so you know for a lot of
29:28
people it's just not a hobby anymore it's become
29:30
a high speed cycle of chasing spending justifying
29:34
and regretting so if you've ever felt that gut
29:36
punch when the mail comes As a reminder that,
29:40
you know, you went on a bender two weeks ago
29:43
at 2 a .m. on a Tuesday, or if you've lied to
29:46
a loved one about how much you spent or you're
29:49
hiding packages, or if you've told yourself this
29:51
is the last break or this is the last purchase
29:53
more times than you can count. We understand
29:56
what you're going through. We get it. And a lot
29:59
of us have been there. You know, some of us still
30:01
are. Some of us are still recovering. And frankly,
30:03
it's a lifelong commitment, just like. gambling
30:07
addiction and recovery to more mainstream things
30:12
like alcohol and drugs and gambling it is a lifelong
30:17
commitment no i'm not recovered by any means
30:20
i'm still you know on my journey and so you know
30:24
this is all sort of why we started collectors
30:26
md we're not here to shame you or tell you to
30:29
quit collecting altogether unless that's what
30:31
you want you know what you want to do or what
30:33
you need we fully support you either way but
30:35
we're really just here to offer support resources
30:37
and community for people navigating compulsive
30:40
collecting gambling like behaviors and the blurry
30:44
lines between passion and addiction. So if this
30:47
is resonating with you, if this is hitting home
30:49
in any capacity, please reach out. Join one of
30:53
our weekly support meetings. We have a daily
30:55
group chat that has been incredibly active and
30:59
just so positive so that people can stay connected
31:02
in between these weekly meetings. Or if you just
31:04
want to listen in. We are open to that, too.
31:07
You can keep your camera off and just listen.
31:09
We feel like that is just as powerful. So there's
31:12
no pressure. It's just, you know, we're just
31:14
trying to spread awareness and let people know
31:17
that this space exists for you. It's completely
31:20
free. There's no strings attached. If you want
31:23
to just come to a meeting just to check it out,
31:25
that's totally fine. If you feel like it's not
31:27
for you, you're not. you know, obligated to attend
31:31
another meeting after that. We just want to be
31:34
there for people who are also struggling and
31:37
let people know that they don't have to figure
31:39
this out alone. So thanks so much, Alyx, for
31:42
coming on and sharing your story and talking
31:43
about Collectors MD. If you in the audience want
31:45
to find out more about what they do, check the
31:47
description of this video for links to them.
31:49
And if you want to see another story of someone
31:51
in recovery from a gambling addiction, check
31:53
out this video next. Let's keep getting better
31:55
together one day at a time.