Elizabeth Vargas Returns to Rehab: ABC Anchor Admitted She Is An Alcoholic

3:25 PM EDT 8/18/2014 by Jamie Dinar, Celebeat Reporter

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Elizabeth Vargas has checked herself back into rehab for alcohol dependency.

The ABC News reporter and 20/20 co-anchor announced on Sunday that she re-admitted herself to a recovery center this weekend while on vacation.

PEOPLE Magazine obtained a statement by Vargas and the network on Aug. 17. The statement read, "As so many other recovering alcoholics know, overcoming the disease can be a long and incredibly difficult process. I feel I have let myself, my co-workers and most importantly my family down, and for that I am ashamed and sorry."

The 51-year-old anchor said she was "committed to battling and addressing this debilitating disease," and expressed graditude for all the support she received, according to PEOPLE.

In addition, PEOPLE reported ABC News has come out, stating it stands "squarely hehind her" and was focused on Vargas' health.

"We look forward to having her back at ABC News when she feels ready to returned," ABC News said.

This isn't Vargas' first stint in a recovery center. She spent several weeks at a facility last fall, which she freely admitted during a Good Morning America interview in Jan. 2014. At the time, Vargas acknowledged she was an alcoholic, and that it took her years to admit it.

Vargas also said she suffered panic attacks since she was a child.

"I dealt with that anxiety, and the stress that anxiety brought, by starting to drink," she said in the interivew.

Vargas has worked in network news since 1993, starting at NBC and moving to ABC in 1996.

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