Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Former MLB pitcher CC Sabathia has joined Alkermes as a spokesperson for its alcohol dependence awareness campaign called “My Relationship with Alcohol.”
Sabathia spoke to Bleacher Report about the campaign Wednesday, saying his own past issues with alcohol misuse made him want to help others.
“I started drinking at 14 years old and was alcohol-dependent for 21 years. Not ’til I got to my early 30s did I realize I needed help but didn’t know how to reach out or where to reach out,” Sabathia said. “… I think people would be surprised about what alcohol dependency really is and what it looks like.”
Per Alkermes, the campaign aims to “help raise awareness about the disease of alcohol dependence and encourage people who are rethinking their relationship with alcohol to reach out to their healthcare provider.” The campaign provides educational resources and is looking to decrease the stigma around alcoholism and alcohol dependence.
Sabathia first wrote about his excessive alcohol use in March 2016 in a column for The Players’ Tribune. He wrote he spent years struggling with addiction in silence, using alcohol as a coping mechanism for anxiety.
“Because I wasn’t naturally outgoing, I turned to alcohol to try to bring my personality out,” Sabathia wrote. “I mean, that’s why a lot of people use alcohol. But to me it always felt like I really needed it. Every drink I had would push that anxiety out of my mind more and more until I didn’t have a worry in the world.”
Sabathia entered a rehabilitation program and has been sober for more than five years.
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