14 DAY TRIAL // In November last year, after some time of being MIA on ABC’s 20/20 segment, Elizabeth Vargas announced that she’d checked herself into rehab for alcoholism. She spoke to her GMA co-anchor George Stephanopoulos about the experience, admitting for the first time “I am an alcoholic.”
Video of the interview is available at this link.
Getting candid in front of the camera for the first time since seeking help for her problem, Vargas explains that it took her a very long time just to admit she had it because she was a functioning alcoholic, which made it very easy for her to come up with excuses.
She says that she’s been suffering from anxiety for years and that she never learned the proper way to deal with certain feelings. If you factor in the daily stress with all this, you understand why she developed the habit of drinking wine every night to calm herself down, to unwind.
In time, Vargas continues, one occasional glass became the norm every night. Then, just one glass wasn’t enough anymore.
“I am an alcoholic. It took me a long time to admit that to myself. It took me a long time to admit it to my family, but I am. The amount of energy I expended keeping that secret and keeping this problem hidden from view was exhausting,” she says.
“Even to admit it to myself was admitting, I thought, that I was a failure. You become so isolated with the secret and so lonely, because you can't tell anyone what's happening. Denial is huge for any alcoholic, especially for a functioning alcoholic, because I, you know, I'm not living under a bridge. I haven't been arrested,” Vargas continues.
It was her husband who first told her she had a problem, but she would still not accept the reality of it. Then, one morning, she arrived to do a GMA interview and realized that she was in no condition to do it.
Vargas checked into rehab late last year, but even then, she was not entirely convinced she should be there. Today, she knows she’s done the right thing and she’s speaking out on it in the hope that others in her situation might realize they have a problem and get help before it’s too late.
“You know, this isn't what I want to be known for, but I'm really proud of what I did. It's a psychic change, I think. I mean, it's learning to accept that I'm human. That there's nothing wrong with failing, that there's nothing wrong with feeling anxiety,” Vargas says.