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Drinking Was Absolutely My Priority in Life': Veteran Journalist & News Anchor Discusses Her History of Alcoholism With Glenn Beck
August 15, 2013
"I used to lie in the fetal position on the floor of my office at Fox News Channel...that's how much pain I was in."
TheBlaze's Laurie Dhue appeared on The Glenn Beck Program Thursday to discuss her history of alcoholism and what she's learned from the struggle.
"In the next 45 minutes, I think you're going to be inspired," Beck said at the introduction of the program. "You may find a little more courage in your own life, some answers in your own life, and you also might find some answers and some courage in your life as a citizen."
Dhue, who has hosted programs on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, began by saying that while she doesn't let her past struggles define her, her "twenty years of suffering" have certainly shaped her into who she is today.
"I used to lie in the fetal position on the floor of my office at Fox News Channel an hour before I was going on the air and hosting -- that's how much pain I was in," she said. "Because even though I had this big job at Fox News and before that MSNBC and CNN, it wasn't enough for me to give up the bottle. Drinking was absolutely my priority in life, despite the fact that I had a lot to lose. It didn't matter, because when you're in the throes of addiction...consequences be damned."
Even when she was at parties and dinners with "extremely high-profile people" like Rupert Murdoch, Dhue said "it didn't matter to me."
That was never more clear than when she met then President George W. Bush "fairly drunk," a memory she told Beck is one of the most embarrassing she can recall.
People think of alcoholics as people who "wet themselves" and live in the gutter, Dhue and Beck agreed, when in fact they're "you, me, your dentist, your priest, your pizza delivery guy..."
"High-functioning people that can be really out of control and nobody knows," Dhue said.
Dhue also described her pivot point as a confluence of events when her blackouts started becoming more frequent, she got in a drunken fight with her father, and made a blackout phone call to the man she was dating at the time.
But most important, she said, was her sister's pregnancy.
"I sort of woke up one day and thought, I want this unborn baby to have a present aunt. To have a sober aunt. The aunt who makes her flight home to Atlanta to show up at the baptism and the plays and the athletic events," she said, showing photos of her nephews. "Those little boys are my pride and joy, and they are two major reasons why I stay sober."
Her first two weeks of detox were "night sweats, horrible cramping, headaches, nauseous at work..." with "the poison was literally draining out of [her] body," but after the first few months, people started asking her things like, "Did you lose weight? Is your hair blonder? Did you have work done?"
The two also discussed the pressures that can drive a person to alcoholism, particularly for women, in addition to national endeavors like the war on drugs.
For those who were listening who felt like she was describing their story, Dhue urged: "You can do it. You're not alone. You shouldn't be fighting this alone."
Watch two clips from the interview, below:
Complimentary Clip from TheBlaze TV
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The full episode of The Glenn Beck Program, along with many other live streaming shows and thousands of hours of on-demand content, is available on just about any digital device. Get it all with a FREE TRIAL.
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