Whereas the Singular Self excludes, the Plural Self contains multitudes.The Singular Self prioritizes agency; the Plural Self, harmony.
I attempted to self-exclude many times but often relapsed.
For almost 20 years Red Balloon has recovered children who self-excluded from school because they were either severely bullied or experienced a traumatic event in their life.
I self-excluded from websites throughout uni, which did stop me gambling with that specific company – but there is always another bookie lurking around the corner.
"If you realise you don't tick off every box of the eligibility requirements, it would lead a lot of women to self-exclude.
"I self-excluded from the major online casinos but there was always a new company I could open with and some of them don't make it easy to self-exclude," says Michael, a bricklayer from Glasgow, who started betting on football and greyhounds when he was 15, before developing a serious gambling addiction.
On a spring afternoon last year, the 42-year-old calmly walked into a betting shop in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, and told a member of staff: "I want to self-exclude – I've had enough".
The former addict and gambling campaigner Matt Zarb-Cousin has launched an app called GamBan that allows people to self-exclude at source by installing software that prevents their phone or computer accessing betting sites.
"We have large sectors of our communities who self-exclude from fostering because they believe they're not able to foster," said Brenda Farrell, head of fostering and adoption at Barnardo's.
I also self-excluded from a casino but soon after, due to regulatory changes, you didn't have to give a name so there was never a doubt that I would be able to enter.
