Longtime ‘Good Morning America’ Anchor Opens up About Quitting Drugs

Former TV journalist Dan Harris has become a bit of a lifestyle guru over the last decade, and for him, self-improvement was an urgent need. In a new interview with NPR, Harris explained that he had abused drugs during his on-camera career, and he believed that was a major contributing factor when he began to develop panic attacks. In his search for a resolution, Harris fell in love with meditation.

Harris, now 52, joined the TV news industry out of college and worked for a few regional stations before landing at ABC News in the year 2000. He became an anchor in 2006 starting with World News Sunday, and contributed to other shows over the years including a long stint on Good Morning America. During that time, Harris covered mass shootings, natural disasters, and combat zones, among other traumatic events. He told NPR’s Rachel Martin that these experiences shook him and helped him develop some bad habits.

“Part of the panic attack was fueled by the fact that after having spent many years in war zones I, very stupidly, started to self-medicate with recreational drugs, including cocaine,” he said. “I learned that even though I hadn’t been doing drugs that often, and I wasn’t high on the air, it was enough to change my brain chemistry and make it more likely for somebody who had a preexisting proclivity for anxiety and panic to have a panic attack. So I quit doing drugs, I started seeing a psychiatrist very regularly for many years and then eventually through a combination of psychotherapy and my beat as a religion reporter, I stumbled upon meditation and that made a really big difference for me.”

Harris wrote a book called 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Really Works – a True Story, which was published in March of 2014. He also launched a meditation app and started a podcast, both called 10% Happier. Harris’ book was largely about incorporating meditation into everyday modern life, but in 2021 Harris was able to retire from ABC News and focus on his meditation projects full-time.

Harris has two books on meditation available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. The 10% Happier podcast is still ongoing today, while the app is available as well.