Drunkorexia is a self sabataging behavior generally practiced by college aged and young thirty something men and women. No official statistics can be found, but CBS News estimates thrirty percent of college students are drunkorexics. The individual practices anorexia during the day to "save calories" for alcohol binges in the evening. This is a fairly newly coined term. "Abuse counselors are putting the word 'drunkorexia' in line with other eating disorders because the patient uses the same type of methods as anorexia and bulimia- they just mix it with alcohol too," said Dr. Kevin Prince, Alcohol & Other Drug Education Program Coordinator at the University Health Services in Austin, Texas.
Men report that yes, avoiding the "beer gut" is a reason to practice, drunkorexia, but so is saving money for alcohol. When college students are faced between paying for dinner or buying drinks, often the drinks win. Females, however, identify staying slim as the number one reason to practice this eating disorder/binge drinking hybrid. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, as many as 10 million females suffer from some sort of eating disorder.
Drunkorexia is an addiction, not a fad, as often hyped by social sites and from college chatter. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "alcoholism and eating disorders frequently co–occur and often co–occur in the presence of other psychiatric and personality disorders." If you suffer from drunkorexia, seek help from an addiction specialist or school counselor who can point you in the direction of health care professionals and psychiatrists trained in treating addictions.
Jennings, Ashley. "Drunkorexia: Alcohol Mixes With Eating Disorders" 21 October 2010.
web. 16 March 2011
Blakely, Lindsey. "New Stats Show Drunkorexia Affects College-Aged Students" 11 November 2010. web. 16 March 2011
I find it disturbing that many people would rather spend all their money on beer and starve themselves then eat decently. I personally do not drink, but I believe people should THINK before they act and not starve themselves for death for something as simple as a drink of alcohol.
ReplyDeleteThis is disturbing, I agree. It is a new label to an old condition, that I feel is accurate. Whats more , is that it is basically 2 disorders and addictions in one. So "Drunkorexia" is probably twice as hard to combat and defeat.
ReplyDeleteWow this is pretty crazy. This actually isn't as surprising though, especially amongst college students attempting to avoid the "freshman 15". However, much safer and healthier methods could be drinking less, or working out and staying in regular healthy shape i would imagine. However as the article states, women who do this (esp. ones who may be already severely underweight to begin with).
ReplyDeleteThis is not good, Drunkorexia will destroy a lot of our potential leaders. It is very important that parents, teachers, and other concern citizens heighten the awareness of this addiction. This problem needs to be address before it spirals out of control. I agree that students should have some fun at college, but this is taking it to far.
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