Everyone knows that if you are a calorie counter, partying can have detrimental effects on your waistline.
With the fear of freshmen fifteen or senior six still looming, students are always going to be concerned about their caloric intake during a night of partying. Needless to say, it is no surprise that a trend called “drunkorexia” is invading the college culture, most notably college-aged females.
According to a press release from the Eating Disorder Center of Denver (EDC-D), “drunkorexia” is an unofficial term coined to describe a recent correlation between bulimia and binge drinking. It is used to describe people whom “either starve all day to offset the caloric intake associated with consuming large amounts of alcohol or they binge on food and/or alcohol, then purge.”
In other words, college girls decide not to eat all day so they can booze more later. The ‘logic’ behind this is that the alcohol will hit harder, due to an empty stomach. In addition, it allows them to consume more calories of beer, and not worry about weight gain. Women decide the best way to beat the system of drinking highly caloric beers and not gain weight is to become “drunkorexic.”
Dr. Elise Harrison, the associate director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said she has not heard of the term before, because it is not an official medical term. But she said, “it is not unusual for people to deal with both binge drinking and an eating disorder.”
“It is particularly dangerous to binge drink while restricting food intake,” she added.
Although most Fairfield students never heard of the term ‘drunkorexia,’ many students have witnessed the associated behaviors. When asked if the trend will every hit Fairfield’s campus, Jonathan O’Connor ’11 has witnessed such behavior, “The girls I know that do it get ridiculously sick, then you usually see them in the heath center, and that’s not a great place to be.”
But Camille Dolloff ’11 disagreed, saying “Maybe, but I don’t think it will be popular if it does.”
Due to student organizations such as Fairfield Corps, students know that eating bananas and peanut butter before a night of drinking is the safest bet. While discussing the risks of drunkorexia, Jenn Zocco ’10 admits that the trend “sounds really detrimental health-wise.”
Senior Stephanie Blackadar said she sees the problems behind drunkorexia. “I’m sure there are a lot of girls here who have experienced it. I think it is terrible that girls feel pressure to be thin, and drinking alcohol on top of that is dangerous.”
Harrison explains why this trend may be on the rise.
“There are so many factors,” she said. “Binging and purging and restrictive eating can become like an addiction over time. Often binging and purging becomes a coping mechanism when a person is dealing with strong feelings.”
Although she acknowledged that there are many students who do not admit they have a problem or seek help until their health problems become significant, Harrison encourages all Fairfield students to use the services the University provides before it is too late.