The term drunkorexia is relatively new, although the phenomenon it describes is not so new. Drunkenness is a combination of alcoholism and anorexia nervosa or bulimia. Generally, a person suffering from drunkorexia will restrict food intake during the day and then drink at night to keep calories under control.
Although it is usually men who consume excessive alcohol, there are more women than men who suffer from drunkenness, especially between the ages of 17 and 24. In this Psychology-Online article we explain what drunkorexia, its symptoms and treatment.
What is drunkorexia: definition
Drunkorexia is a non-medical term that refers to alcohol consumptionl without being accompanied by food avoid consuming calories. Other people, who consume some food, may vomit the food and alcohol to remove the calories from their body. The Eating Disorders Association of America defines drunkorexia as behaviors that include: replacing food consumption with excessive alcohol consumption or consuming food along with sufficient amounts of alcohol to induce vomiting as a method of purging and numbing.
The typical behaviors of drunkorexia arise from the fear of gaining weight due to alcohol consumption and are more prevalent in university women, although there are men who also experience them. In extreme cases, eating behaviors can fall under anorexia or bulimia, in which alcohol can be used as a facilitator of vomiting or to help control the anxiety of eating. However, people without eating disorders who restrict their intake before going out at night may have problems with drunkorexia.
Many people think that alcohol will provide them with enough calories to replace those from uneaten food. However, alcohol has no nutritional value and people consume what are considered “empty calories.” Additionally, those who want to become intoxicated can avoid eating food to allow for faster absorption of alcohol in the stomach and small intestine.
What are the symptoms of drunkorexia?
Some of the symptoms of drunkorexia are:
- Being very hungry during the day
- Drinking excessively at night
- Affectation and possible appearance of alcohol consumption
- Despite feeling unwell, continue drinking to stay intoxicated or absent
- Dental caries: if you drink on an empty stomach, the person gets drunk faster, and may vomit. If this happens on a regular basis, stomach acid will begin to damage your teeth.
- Changes in behavior: May increase mood instability, especially bad mood and depressive symptoms.
Additionally, it will present the symptoms of excessive alcohol consumptionwhich is defined as the rapid consumption of large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time:
- Vomit
- Irregular breathing
- Extreme confusion
- Inability to wake up
Eating disorders combined with excessive alcohol consumption can occur in different ways. Those people who, without having an eating disorder, have drunkorexia are more likely to develop it, since depriving the body of calories on days in which large amounts of alcohol are consumed has consequences on mental, emotional and physical health:
- Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach causes the body to be unable to absorb and process the alcohol quickly enough to avoid alcohol poisoning.
- In some cases, binge eating (bulimia) occurs because the person is very hungry and cannot control their impulses. After these binges, behaviors that eliminate those calories from the body usually occur, such as vomiting. And in this way, the person begins to develop an eating disorder.
- Reducing calories from nutrients puts the person at risk.
Drunkorexia and addiction
A person with an eating disorder who gets drunk frequently is susceptible to developing an alcohol addiction. The cycle of addiction It is subtle and very strong. A very common mistake is to think that drinking only on weekends does not make them more vulnerable to .
There is debate about whether drunkorexia is a new disorder or not, but there is no doubt that people who suffer from anorexia or bulimia are prone to alcohol or substance abuse. According to a 2009 study by the International Journal of , there is a critical need for interventions in college women with excessive alcohol consumption and eating disorders.
Treatment of drunkorexia
There is no specific treatment for drunkorexia, since It is not a diagnosable disorder. but a combination of two different disorders. Treatment will need to address both the eating disorder and the alcoholism. Also keep in mind that there may be an underlying mental health disorder that leads to both the eating disorder and alcohol addiction. An accurate diagnosis is essential to address both disorders.
Some experts start from the approach that these people are dealing with fear, anxiety, pain, sadness, loss on a very deep emotional level and the coping strategy they use is drunkorexia (eating disorder and alcoholism). ). So learn healthy ways to regulate those emotions It could be a fundamental part of the treatment. It is not just about eliminating disorders but about simultaneously building new ways of facing different situations in life.
The recovery of some healthy eating habits and the maintenance of the abstinence It can be done with the right information and tools. A multidisciplinary team can create an individualized treatment plan and provide the support, knowledge and skills necessary to rebuild the person’s life. The sooner the treatment takes place, the better the outcome and the fewer long-term consequences.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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