Yahoo News Loose Women's Denise Welch relives 'terrifying' past with alcohol as she celebrates 12 years sober
Denise Welch has recalled how she was left 'terrified' of hurting her family and left crippled with anxiety and memory loss after nights out, as she recalled just how much alcohol affected her life and how proud she was of now being 12 years sober.
Loose Women star Denise has always been very open and honest about her struggles with drinking and addiction, whether it is on the ITV show, in her own books are on social media and it was on Instagram that the Geordie star reflected on her sobriety journey, having had her last drop of alcohol in April 2012, months after her win on Celebrity Big Brother.
Both she and husband Lincoln Townley, who she went onto marry in 2013, decided together to become sober and, in a video she posted on Thursday evening, Denise described the decision she made as her 'proudest moment' outside of sons Matty and Louis.
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Opening up on how being sober has had a positive impact and her and Lincoln's loved ones, as well as the couple themselves, Denise remarked: "It's not just us, there's a ripple effect. Our sobriety helps all the people who love us and the people we love. Their lives were and are changed by our sobriety. I can't tell you the difference it's made to all of our lives and it's possible to do."
She continued: "I'm not the drink police, I'm not saying the people who enjoy a few glasses of wine or getting a bit tiddly on a Friday...look, enjoy yourself, but for those of you who have problem - the way to assess, I think, if you have a problem is when drinking is no longer fun or when drink is no longer making you happy.
"When you have 'hangxiety' when it's upsetting to people you love; your friends, your family and when it is ruining their lives as well, then you have a problem."
Opening up on her own struggles, Denise told her followers: "I got to the point where my memories of these 'fabulous' nights out weren't what i remember, because I couldn't remember. I just remember how those nights made me feel and the thought of it makes me feel sick. There isn't a day goes by when me and Lincoln aren't grateful for the fact we found the strength, with the help of our loved ones, to stop drinking.
"I lost all my self esteem, I'd be terrified to talk to people in case I'd upset them or couldn't remember what I'd said to And now I've got all of that back and I know that I'm loved and respected."
