Elizabeth Vargas – A Story of Anxiety, Addiction & Hope

Introduction

Elizabeth Vargas is an American television journalist best known as the co-anchor of World News Tonight and 20/20 on for ABC. She was at the top of her field for decades, known for her strong reporting around the world. Despite having support, resources, and what most would call a privileged life, Elizabeth Vargas says she just could not stop drinking. After struggling with and hiding an alcohol use disorder, she opens up in an interview with Diane Sawyer, discussing what alcoholism did to her life.

Additional videos:

• Elizabeth Vargas answers your questions ahead of NewsNation debut
• Elizabeth Vargas Speaks at 2017 Signature Luncheon (The Menninger Clinic)
• Elizabeth Vargas | Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction
• Spriester Sessions: A sit down with ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas

Quotes

“When you’re walking up the street and it’s a beautiful evening and all the people are out at the sidewalk cafes and wine bars, enjoying these lovely beautiful glasses of wine, I don’t look at them and think I want one, but I look at them and I think I miss that. I miss that time when it felt so innocent and romantic but that’s just me romanticizing something that turned out to be really monstrous for me.”

“There are days when you wake up and feel so horrible that the only thing that will make you feel better is more alcohol and that’s when you’re in the death spin, that’s when people die.”

“When you’re in the cycle of this disease though, it doesn’t matter how much you have or how little you have, it didn’t matter … I lost sight of everything.”

“She’s written a book for all the millions of people like her and their families, locked into this same wrenching journey.”

“It was only after that Florida vacation in 2012 that Elizabeth Vargas decided her drinking was enough of a problem. She would tell her bosses that she had a medical issue but secretly she was making a visit to her first rehab facility where the minimum stay is usually 30 days.”

“While she’s there [a second stay in rehab], she met this man, Earl Hightower, one of the nation’s leading experts on alcoholism intervention and recovery. He says instantly he saw she’d made a career of hiding her fears and resisting help and she wasn’t ready to face the truth.”

“Heavy drinking over time hijacks certain processes in the brain, the physiology of the brain, so that it begins to crave alcohol just to feel normal, no longer drinking for the enjoyment of it, just to feel okay.”

“The growing body of evidence about the link between alcoholism and anxiety, especially among women, is causing some experts to broaden their approach to treatment and recovery … on average, an addict will relapse 3-4 times before they get sober and alcoholics who have anxiety are at twice the risk of relapse.”

“There’s no guarantee that I can stay sober for 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years. The truth of the matter is every single alcoholic only has today – none of us knows what will happen tomorrow. We all do everything we can today that tomorrow we won’t pick up a drink but we really only have today.”