SINKING a bottle of white wine every day was just “normal” for Sharnie Yorke.
The 50-year-old saw no issue with her booze habit, presuming that “everyone likes a drink at the end of the day”.
But when the mum-of-two humiliated her daughter at her university graduation by “smashing her face up” and breaking her arm, she realised something was wrong with drinking pino grigio on the daily.
Sharnie, a healthcare support assistant, was even taken away in a police car after her daughter, 21, called the old bill on her.
The incident, which happened in July this year, took place at her daughter’s student flat following a pub trip near the University of Exeter campus.
“The graduation was the turning point,” Sharnie tells.
“It was a huge embarrassment, I had so much regret.
“My eldest daughter, 26, even told me she wouldn’t want me looking after my grandson.
“I used to think my drinking was okay, as everyone likes a drink of an evening… but not every night.
“It was clearly an addiction.”
Sharnie’s daughters used to beg her not to drink on evenings out, a habit that was exacerbated “difficult feelings” surrounding her divorce and social anxiety.
The Kent-based mum self-styles as “always a big drinker” and says big booze consumption felt normal to her as she was raised in a family who liked to drink.
She says it was part of growing up and she would go out to “lots” of parties in her late teens and early twenties.
But as she got older, her love of a glass of wine at the end of the day turned into a “compulsion” to drink the entire bottle, seven days a week.
After a divorce and her children leaving home, Sharnie says she thinks the wine “filled a void” in her life.
“The drinking probably got quite a bit worse since my daughters grew up and left home,” she says.
NHS guidelines on drinking alcohol
According to the NHS, regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week risks damaging your health.
To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level if you drink most weeks:
- men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis
- spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
- if you want to cut down, try to have several drink-free days each week
If you’re pregnant or think you could become pregnant, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.
You read more on the NHS website.
“I started drinking pretty much every evening to fill the void.
“I went from having a couple of glasses of wine a night to a full bottle.
“I was drunk, all the time.”
Sharnie didn’t like the person she became after a bottle of wine.
I started drinking pretty much every evening to fill the void. I went from having a couple of glasses of wine a night to a full bottle. I was drunk all the time
Sharnie Yorke
She’d go from “calm and personable” while sober to “bitter, loud and obnoxious”.
Her daughters eventually had to beg her not to drink at social occasions and would even refuse to come if they knew she’d be drinking.
“Over the last few years, drink has made me feel obnoxious,” Sharnie says.
“If we’d go to a social event, my daughters would ask me not to drink too much.
I’d become a bitter drunk becoming openly rude and more resentful of how my life turned out
Sharnie Yorke
“I got too drunk before a family wedding, once – so my daughters refused to attend.
“I’d become a bitter drunk becoming openly rude and more resentful of how my life turned out.”
Sharnie recalls turning into the same “obnoxious” person on the fateful night of her youngest daughter’s graduation.
After mixing prosecco, cocktails and wine all evening, she remembers being “loud and belligerent”.
While on her way back to her daughter’s flat, she fell, broke her arm and “smashed up her face”.
Sharnie’s daughter wouldn’t let her back in the flat and even called the police on her.
“I remember the ride with the policeman,” Sharnie says. “They said I was fine, but I’d upset my daughters.
“I was taken to a hotel room for the night.
“When I woke up, I was feeling very regretful.”
The thought of that night alone made me want to never drink again, Not being able to see my grandson was enough for me to stop
Sharnie Yorke
Sharnie says it was the “wake-up call she needed”.
“It was a huge embarrassment,” she adds.
“I was just mortified really – I knew [the drinking] needed to stop.
“My eldest even said she wouldn’t want me looking after my grandson anymore, if things didn’t change.”
Sharnie has not had a drink since the day of the graduation and is over 100 days sober.
“The thought of that night alone made me want to never drink again,” she says. “Not being able to see my grandson was enough for me to stop.
“I’m more present now – it’s nice to wake up feeling fresh.
“It seems like I might be able to be sober for the rest of my life.”