LAST week I was challenged to keep a totally honest drink diary as part of Alcohol Awareness Week.

I could have decided to tell the world that a gin and tonic, no matter how big the measure, is one unit or that I am very sensible and only had one glass of wine all weekend.

But instead I decided to embrace the idea of being completely honest about my drinking and, to be honest, had a bit of a surprise!

In total that week I had: four large glasses of wine; four very generous gin and tonics and one pub measure gin and tonic; half a bottle of champagne and three bottles of Peroni, or 30.5 units – more than double the 14 I’m meant to have.

On Monday I went to Warrington Hospital to meet with alcohol liaison nurse Katie Dagnall to find out how wrecked my body will be in the future.

“If you carried on like this for 10 years I would bet that you will be physically dependent on alcohol,” she told me.

“I don’t think that after 10 years you would be able to stop without help or health implications.”

People who drink like I do cause some of the biggest health problems in the town. We are not typical alcoholics but we drink frequently.

Whether you’re a mum having a glass of wine every night after putting the kids to bed or a student making the most of ‘buy one get one free’ offers in bars, people who drink above the recommended amount end up with health problems and put pressure on the NHS, which is already struggling to cope with serious alcoholics who are drinking up to 50 units a day.

For us social drinkers a long list of health issues awaits.

Depression, anxiety, weight gain, bad skin, memory loss, liver disease, hepatitis, pancreatitis, heart disease, stroke, throat and mouth cancer and fertility problems are all linked to alcohol.

And as we get older our tolerance to alcohol only decreases, bringing these health problems on faster.

“It will happen. It is a certainty that these things will happen if you carry on like this,” said Katie.

“A lot of dependent drinkers find it has snuck up on them. A lot were social drinkers and that’s how it started, with a glass of wine with tea.

“Before you know it your central nervous system is dependent on alcohol and you can’t do anything without a drink.”

Today’s pub culture has had an impact on Katie’s workload.

“On Friday and Saturday nights we get the binge drinkers, the 18 to 30-year-olds.

“Pubs are doing promotions that make it cheaper to get a double than a single, or buy two wines, get the rest of the bottle free. I don’t think they should do that. They are targeting students and people who are out to binge drink.

“Increasing drink prices is not necessarily a bad thing.”