PGA – Struggling With Alcohol
Playing the PGA Tour isn’t always a hole in one, just ask Grayson Murray. Recently baring his struggles to the world at large, the pro golfer revealed on Twitter that he had previously reached out to the PGA Tour for help on getting over his struggles with alcohol addiction on the road. According to Murray, the PGA hasn’t effectively handled his alcohol struggles, allowing him to slip through the cracks and continue his spiral, culminating in an incident in Hawaii in which he was fined for being drunk at his hotel in the lobby.
It’s good to have a vulnerable moment—this was Murray’s moment to lay it all out for us to see. Struggling with quick fame and fast money is tough when you have no previous experience with those kinds of things. What can you do when everything is handed to you on a silver platter, and you have more money than you know what to do with?
Alcohol in particular is a tricky substance to deal with because of how common and easily procured it is. There are several methods to treat alcoholism, including treatments like the Sinclair method. The CDC defines excessive drinking as either binge or heavy drinking: binge drinking being 4 or more drinks per sitting for women and 5 or more for men, heavy drinking being 8 or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more drinks per week for men. Binge drinking causes at least half the deaths from drinking in the US per year. Excessive drinking causes 1 out of every 10 deaths among individuals 18 and older every year. Excessive alcohol use can lead to damaging long-term effects such as cardiovascular issues, cancer, or liver disease.
The PGA’s lack of an appropriate response is disappointing, and we hope that further progress is made in getting recovery services expanded to their players in an efficient and effective manner, especially after Grayson Murray spoke out about the issue on social media channels. Making sure that everyone has sufficient access to recovery services is important, and this is one of Landmark Recovery’s goals in expanding across the US.
At Landmark, we offer a full continuum of care informed by a holistic understanding of full-scale treatment, in which the whole person is treated from root causes to being given access to post-treatment educational programs. We think this is a solid model of addiction treatment that other organizations can learn from, including the PGA Tour’s substance abuse experts.
Choose Recovery Over Addiction
We're here 24/7 to help you get the care you need to live life on your terms, without drugs or alcohol. Talk to our recovery specialists today and learn about our integrated treatment programs.
