ABC News reporter Elizabeth Vargas is publicly acknowledging that she's an alcoholic, and says it took her years to admit it.
In an interview aired Friday on "Good Morning America," Vargas said hiding it from others left her "exhausted." Her go-to drink was wine which, increasingly during her adulthood, she used to manage her anxiety and stress.
She said she had suffered panic attacks since she was a child.
Last fall, Vargas spent several weeks in a treatment facility and is now in Alcoholics Anonymous. She told "GMA" co-anchor George Stephanopoulos she's "proud" of confronting her problem.
She said she's ready to resume her duties Friday as co-anchor of "20/20."
Vargas has worked in network news since 1993, first with NBC and then ABC, which she joined in 1996.
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