While "drunkorexia" is not a medical term, it has become
easily understood slang for the practice of swapping food calories
for those in alcohol.
And as the college semester is in full swing, campus counselors
hear the term in the context of alcohol education and eating
disorders.
"It's a sensationalized term, but it's a tangible idea for
students," acknowledges Emily Hedstrom-Lieser of the Drug, Alcohol
& Tobacco Education Office at the University of Northern Colorado.
Students at the school are putting up bulletin boards in residence
halls on the topic, and creating a series of events for National
Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, Monday through Friday.
As part of her job as communications director at the Colorado
State University Health Network, Pam McCracken speaks and listens
to students on the dangers of alcohol. "They will think, 'I'm
drinking, therefore I don't want to eat so much, so I'm going to
have a mixed green salad and a Diet Coke,' " says McCracken. "I
say, 'Look, the day that you're consuming alcohol is not the day to
cut back on your calories.' "
At UNC, Hedstrom-Lieser says students tell her about seeing
their friends drink on an empty stomach, binge on "drunk food" --
pizza, hot dogs and hamburgers -- then feel guilty and vomit.
A study published in the July 2009 issue of the International
Journal of Eating Disorders found a connection between binge
drinking (four or more drinks in one sitting) and eating disorders.
The authors suggest that there is a "crucial need for early
interventions targeting binge drinking among college-age women
regardless of their current drinking status."
Campus health educators see a spectrum of disordered eating and
drinking, from dieting and overexercising in order to party on the
weekends, to medically definable conditions (anorexia nervosa,
bulimia and binge-eating disorder).
"Typically when someone comes in for treatment, and if they are
diagnosed with an eating disorder, and they are abusing substances,
they also receive a substance-abuse diagnosis," says Felicia
Greher, a psychologist in Counseling and Psychological Services at
the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Greher works with her clients to understand what is at the root
of the behavior, how they relate to their bodies, and how they use
substances and food to cope with those underlying emotional issues.
"We look at the caloric restriction, the binge drinking and ask
how is it serving them," she says. "Then we identify other,
healthier ways to get these needs met."
Drinking can be a way to alleviate social anxiety, she says. So
much of her work deals with helping patients to manage anxiety and
connect with their peers, "learning healthier ways of connecting
with people that don't come with significant costs. Many students
want to make healthy choices when it comes to alcohol."
A new survey by the National Eating Disorders Association shows
a change in the public perception of eating disorders: 82 percent
of respondents believe that eating disorders are a physical or
mental illness and should be treated as such, said the association
in a recent news release.
Nearly 10 million women and 1 million men have an eating
disorder such as anorexia or bulimia, says the association.
Millions more struggle with binge-eating disorder. Forty percent of
new cases of anorexia are girls 15 to 19 years old, and the
incidence of bulimia in females ages 10 to 39 tripled between 1988
and 1993. But just 6 percent of people with bulimia get
mental-health care, according to the association's research.
For 25 years, Dr. Kenneth L. Weiner has treated people with
eating disorders, and has seen the gradual change in public
opinion. "The term 'drunkorexia' is not my favorite, but as it
brings awareness to the problem, it's probably fine," says Weiner,
medical director at Eating Recovery Center in Denver. "Anorexia
nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness. It's
an incredibly serious disorder. When you're starving yourself, your
brain is really starved. You've had the experience of drinking on
an empty stomach? These folks are drinking on an empty body."
For more information, go to nationaleatingdisorders.org, or call
the toll-free helpline, 800-931-2237.