Saying you're a compulsive gambler

How do you feel about saying you're a compulsive gambler to another person? It took me a long time to admit it to myself let alone somebody else. It wasn't until I started going to GA meetings that I ever did it and now I have no problem with it at all. Even back when I first started I could feel better about it because I could qualify it by mentioning that it's been XX number of days/months/years since my last bet. I actually think that is the best thing I got out of GA meetings though. Every time you introduce yourself you say that you're a compulsive gambler and every time you admit it to a room full of strangers it gets easier to tell people you know.

I came clean to a close friend and that helped me tremendously . I felt like the burden of a very heavy secret had been lifted from my heart . Over time , I did speak about my compulsive gambling to a few other friends but I had been in recovery for about a year by then . I have the feeling that they didn't quite grasp the extent of my addiction but it was enough for me that they were supportive and encouraging .

Hoestly dont know what is so difficult saying what you are.
Apart from those few that I am hiding it of and it is never topic all my friends know that I like to go big and crazy on bets.
No shame there, my only problem are parents, would like not to disappoint them and worry them but apart from that I really dont give a ###$.

I've said this before:

Not just saying a compulsive gambler, it took me a long time to realize that I didn't even want to admit to being a "gambler". What I used to think was a complimentary reference by others, when they referred to me as a gambler, slowly sank in to be one of perhaps disdain, shame, or pity. I grew up thinking and believing that a gambler was someone set apart from the normal crowd, for his willingness to take big risks and make big bets others wouldn't. This probably came from watching TV and movies where the hero was a big gambler, like Maverick and James Bond. All the time I thought I was being like them in being a gambling man, I was probably looked upon by others as being a fool. The reality hit hard especially when I lost large amounts of money, and sadly recalling the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted."

I have always detested saying I am a gambler or gambling addict, especially at GA meetings. It just makes me feel worse and makes me want to gamble. Why do they even have to have you insult yourself every single time you address everyone, it is demeaning and degrading and unnecessary. I have more clean time not labeling myself and right away telling people the worst thing about myself. I absolutely hate it and it makes me worse. To a good friend or a counselor I can say I am a gambling addict, but saying it as though it is my surname or part of my identity. NO, I think words have a lot of power and it is the thing I detest the most about GA.

NewLife2017: Sorry that you feel this way whenever admitting that you are a compulsive gambler;

I never felt this way at GA meetings, when I stood up and made this declaration. I always thought of it as everyone present at these meetings owning up to being a problem gambler, and to show that no one was above anyone else at these meetings, that we were all in the same boat with the same disease. The other purpose I always thought it served was to remind ourselves that this was an affliction that was a lifetime disease; it would not go away magically over time, no matter how long we abstained.
I think of it as an insidious and malicious germ in your system that is always ready to be activated.
The biggest factor in quitting forever is recognizing that we must stay forever aware, alert, and knowing that it could start up again at any time, if we were not careful. I went a long time without recognizing or wanting to admit that I was a problem gambler. To me, admitting it vocally is just declaring that I recognize it and am in the lifelong battle to defeat it.