Drunkorexia – a Combination of an Eating Disorder and Binge Drinking

by Lisa Frederiksen

I’d never heard of this term until this morning, but then a quick search brought up several 2008-09 articles describing this new condition – drunkorexia. It is a culturally-created word to describe an individual’s attempt to restrict food but drink large quantities of alcohol in order to keep their weight under control and get drunk at the same time. [On average, a standard drink - 5 ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer or 1.5 ounces of spirits - contains about 100 calories.]

According to what I’ve read, people (especially women) will restrict how much they eat or they will purge what they’ve eaten in order to allow enough ‘calorie room’ to binge drink, which is classified as 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more for men. The binging/purging of food is comparable to the eating disorder, bulimia, and the repeated binging of alcohol is one of the symptoms of an alcohol abuse problem or possibly an addiction to alcohol (the disease alcoholism).

This is terribly serious development, in my opinion. Either of these is difficult to overcome on their own, but together, they make a deadly combination — not the least of which is the emotional stress of trying to ‘normalize’ and/or maintain a combination of these behaviors. According to a January 23, 2008, CBS News report, “ Drunkorexia: Health Danger for Women:”

“Carrie Wilkens, a clinical psychologist and addiction expert, says there have been no formal statistics following this particular behavior but the statistics that are available show that 30 percent of young women with alcohol problems also have some form of eating disorder.

In an interview Wednesday on The Early Show Wilkens, co-founder and clinical director of the Center for Motivation and Change, says limiting food intake before a night of drinking can cause severe health problems for young women.

“‘Food slows the absorption and acts as a buffer from becoming intoxicated too quickly,’ she said. ‘That first drink after not having eaten all day and in some cases these girls do not eat for many days in a row, that first drink has a big affect. They’re at risk for passing out, really terrible consequences.’

“In addition to the immediate consequences, there also are some long-term effects to such behavior.

“Medical studies have shown that the female body doesn’t process alcohol in the same way as the male body. Women are more likely to become dependent on alcohol and to suffer from physical and sexual abuse while intoxicated. Studies also have linked drinking to higher incidences of breast cancer.”

For more information about drunkorexia, visit About.com: Eating Disorders.

For help with overcoming drunkorexia, visit the website for the Center for Motivation and Change.