It’s not a new phenomenon, but it has a new name.

Drunkorexia, according to a New York Times article released March 2, is shorthand for ‘a disturbing blend of behaviors: self-imposed starvation or bingeing and purging, combined with alcohol abuse.’

‘It’s a vicious cycle,’ said Dessa Bergen-Cico, health and wellness professor at Syracuse University. ‘It often comes down to a whole host of other, more complicated issues. One is looking at the complex aspect of why people feel so pressured to obtain a certain body type or a need for acceptance.’

Though drunkorexia is not an official medical term, it is a studied food-related illness that is a variation of anorexia and bulimia.

‘I know that researchers are looking at the co-occurrence of disordered eating and problematic drinking,’ said Christina Sanchez, a doctoral student at Duke University, who is studying drunkorexia for her dissertation.

‘The two behaviors have been shown to occur within the same person, lead to worse drinking outcomes and may stem from similar sources of anxiety, impulsivity and emotion regulation,’ she said in an e-mail interview.

Bergen-Cico said drunkorexia mostly affects women by restricting their eating so they can get drunk easier and to compensate for the calories taken in from alcohol.

‘You respond quicker to alcohol on an empty stomach,’ she said.

She also said drunkorexics may also perform excessive exercise to compensate for the drinks.

‘They also engage in somewhat bulimic-type behavior, by making themselves vomit to get rid of the calories,’ Bergen-Cico said. ‘Or they drink to the point to vomit and lose the calories that way.’

However, drunkorexia also affects men.

Sanchez said recent research has found if you include binge eating and bulimia spectrum disorders, the co-occurrence of binge drinking and binge eating is equally likely amongst both genders.

She also said it seems the phenomenon is more common among college-aged young adults.

‘I would suggest that college students are at particularly high risk because binge drinking and the onset of eating disorders peak during the college years,’ Sanchez said. ‘I would think of the manifestations as the interaction between the behaviors such as exercising before drinking to save calories, as well as to look good.’

Bergen-Cico said drunkorexia has been a problem for a while, although it has become more apparent recently, especially in the media.

‘I think it seems to be a bit more extreme now,’ she said. ‘As much as people are rejecting some of the media culture, we do see that Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan are out drinking, and it builds into some of the expectations.’

Drunkorexia is often described as temporary behavior, but that does not mean the health risks do not exist.

‘It increases the likelihood of alcohol poisoning if somebody is drinking on an empty stomach and restricting caloric intake,’ Bergen-Cico said.

There are also health risks that are important, especially for women, to watch out for, Bergen-Cico said.

‘With high levels of intoxication, you are more likely to be a victim of all kinds of violent crimes including sexual assault. You’re a target when you’re that inebriated,’ she said. ‘You’re also less likely to practice safe sex, to give consent or to be able to mentally and physically be present for what kind of pressure you might be engaging in.’

The health risks involved are often present in both alcohol abuse and eating disorders, and it is important to learn about both, Sanchez said.

‘Both lead to preventable deaths,’ she said. ‘I think the tragedy is that most often when these individuals present at clinic, only one of their troubled behaviors is discussed or treated.’

Though there may be several causes of this behavior, there are also ways to help prevent it, Bergen-Cico said.

‘One of the key things to keep in mind is to help people understand the risks and the things they can do to minimize risk,’ she said.

Bergen-Cico named some of these things as eating before going out to drink, eating while drinking, choosing not to drink or eating a more balanced diet during the week.

‘If you’re looking to give bits of advice, it would be to have people consider it a much more balanced approach to how they eat and plan their diet regularly and to realize the increased risk when they starve themselves to compensate the calories,’ she said.

kapapo@syr.edu

Published on April 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm