Dan Harris, anchor of ABC News’ “Good Morning America” weekend edition, disclosed a past struggle with drug abuse in a blog post Wednesday — revealing that it caused an on-air panic attack he suffered in 2004.
In the post about his forthcoming book on meditation, Harris says he began dabbling with cocaine and ecstasy in 2003 as a way to self-medicate depression brought on after several years covering wars in Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine and Iraq.
“I’m not talking ‘Wolf of Wall Street’-level debauchery,” Harris writes. “My intake was sporadic, and mostly restricted to weekends. I had never been much of a partier before this period in my early thirties. In hindsight, it was an attempt, at least partly, to recreate some of the thrill of the war zone.”
After his on-air freak-out — which occurred while he was reading the news on “Good Morning America” — Harris stopped using drugs and turned to meditation after being turned onto the practice while covering faith for ABC News. His new book explores his journey to meditation with the hope that it can help others become happier.
“…what I discovered as a result of the panic attack has genuinely improved my life, and could, I suspect, help many other people,” he writes. “So even though telling the story makes me uncomfortable, I’ve decided it’s worth the risk.”
The book, titled “10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story,” will be published in March.
Harris is the second ABC News anchor to share struggles with addiction in recent months.
In January, “20/20” anchor Elizabeth Vargas admitted to being an alcoholic, which she sought treatment for at a rehab facility last fall.