Excessive alcohol consumption is undoubtedly a contributing factor to the dreaded “freshman 15” — but at what point does compensating for those liquor calories become a full−blown eating disorder?
“Drunkorexia,” though not a medical or technical term, is colloquially used among researchers and mental health professionals to describe behavior that combines disordered eating — like extreme restrictions and purging — with alcohol abuse and binge drinking. Particularly prevalent on college campuses, “drunkorexic” behavior includes starving one’s self or limiting food intake in order to offset alcohol consumption later on.
Though the prevalence of this tendency is difficult to track, “drunkorexia” sheds light on a noted correlation between eating disorders and substance abuse.
A comprehensive 2003 study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University concluded that close to 35 percent of drug and alcohol abusers also have eating disorders and that nearly half of those suffering from eating disorders also abuse substances.
Read the full story at the Tufts Daily.
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