What is Drunkorexia?

What is Drunkorexia and what are the signs of Drunkorexia?

Drunkorexia is a new disturbing trend that is becoming more common across college campuses and in some cases in high school populations. Essentially this dangerous lifestyle is a combination of an eating disorder and binge drinking. Both of which continue to be problems among high school students, college students, and young adults. You won't find drunkorexia in medical manuals, psychology books, or in parenting guides.

In an effort to lose weight and keep what they find to be an ideal body image; many students feel pressured to eat less and less. For some students, the majority being girls, this can lead to developing an eating disorder where they purposefully starve themselves to be "thin."

On college campuses drinking is as much of the social fabric as Greek life, sports teams, and late night dorm room socializing. Which presents a problem for those attempting to consume as few calories as possible.

Sadly the "solution" for some students is to continue to eat less to "save up calories" for drinking at parties later at night. On top of this students discovered saving money on food opens up more funding for alcohol. But more alcohol means more calories and less food to keep calorie counts low. For some students being starving means that less alcohol causes extreme drunkenness further reinforcing the practice as a way to "save money" and "stay thin."

There are few clear signs of drunkorexia and those with eating disorders may be even more advanced in hiding their dangerous behavior. However there are a few things that may indicate someone you know is engaging in starving themselves followed by binge drinking. Note that at risk populations are high school students, college students, and young adults.

One possible sign is the person skipping meals or not eating at the dinner table. Further evidence is when the person appears to skip the meal right before going out to a party. While many people will eat a good meal before a night of drinking, drunkorexics will go out of their way to avoid food in the hours leading up to a party. These individuals tend to go to parties quite often.

Another sign of an eating disorder is weight loss but this can be hard to determine depending on the person's eating habits. Dull skin, losing hair, and the appearance of fuzz like covering on the person's body are signs of an eating disorder.

If the person's teeth seem to be decaying or look worn it could be due to increased vomiting. Binge drinking can cause some vomiting. Binge drinking on an empty stomach will encourage more vomiting along with more acidic vomit due to less dilution in stomach acid.

The person's behavior may be noticeably different. Due to lack of nutrition and calories a person's reaction times may be slowed, they may appear to be "in a fog," may fall asleep during the day, or they become irritable.

Finally drunkorexia often starts as a seemingly harmless activity. If a friend, child, or family member begins excessively counting calories (especially related to alcoholic beverages) and also is known to frequent parties and drinking events there may be a risk of them developing this new dangerous form of an eating disorder.

If you suspect someone you know is partaking in this potentially deadly activity you should contact a family member, counselor, school RA, the person, or someone close to them. A lot of college campuses offer resources to help those with eating disorders.