Legacy Healing Center Commends Former Yankees Pitcher CC Sabathia for Sharing His Story of Alcoholism and Sobriety

Cherry Hill, NJ - In his new book, Till the End, Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr., former pitcher for the New York Yankees, opened up about his many years of alcohol addiction and how he finally turned his life around with professional help. While CC Sabathia was able to perform at the top of his baseball career, his private life was being torn apart by alcohol abuse.

Legacy Healing Center, an addiction treatment center in Florida and New Jersey commends CC Sabathia, and celebrities like him, for sharing their stories and helping others realize that change is possible. Sabathia’s story is painful, but it’s also highly relatable.

“It's no problem for me to tell the story,” Sabathia said. “I had normalized all this stuff. For me, people read the book, and it’s jaw-dropping stuff - but for me, it’s my life and normal.”

When celebrities use their platform to share their real-life struggles, it lets others know they’re not alone. When they open up about the low points they reached during active addiction, it helps others realize that it's never too late to get help.

In his book, Sabathia refers to himself as “a weird alcoholic.” He said, “I kind of had a routine where I would normalize drinking for three days, like a bender, and would detox myself, be able to pitch - and do it all over again.”

Sabathia was what’s sometimes referred to as a “functional alcoholic”. So-called functional alcoholism is when a person appears to be able to attend to responsibilities like their career while partaking in frequent heavy drinking. In a sense, functioning alcoholics are able to maintain the appearance of being in control. In fact, it's often the case that the effects of addiction have simply not yet eroded every important aspect of their life.

For Sabathia, years of binge drinking had been carefully incorporated into his career schedule. “Right after I came out of the game, I would need a drink and would drink the next three days, and I would take two days off, pitch and do it all over again,” he said. He had become very good at drinking heavily whenever he wasn’t playing baseball, but the situation behind the scenes continued to deteriorate.

When he couldn’t stop drinking after a three-day bender right before the MLB playoffs, Sabathia realized he’d hit rock bottom. He decided to seek professional help for his addiction. He overcame the stigma associated with getting treatment in the face of his peers because he knew that he owed it to his family, his fans, and most importantly, to himself.

A person can go through years of denial before realizing the overwhelming need for professional help, according to Legacy Healing Center. Even though a person is a “functioning alcoholic”, it doesn’t mean that they’re immune to the endless downward spiral of alcohol abuse.

After quitting drinking, Sabathia says he feels like he’s in the best shape of his life – both physically and mentally. "I want everybody to be able to relate to it. And you can have all these things, all the money and all the stuff, but still struggle with mental health and be alcohol dependent. But you can get help," he said. "The toughest thing about dealing with alcohol dependency is reaching out and saying that you need help and that you can't fight this alone. Since I was able to do that, the last six years have been great."

Legacy Healing Center is a leading alcohol and drug addiction treatment center that encourages everyone with a substance use problem to seek help. Their compassionate and understanding approach can help a person to overcome alcohol use disorder and transform their lives into something that is both sustainable and fulfilling. The mental health condition known as substance use disorder is a treatable condition when effective treatment is found.

To speak with an addiction specialist call (888)534-2295 or visit legacyhealing.com to learn more.