A new medical and behavioral condition has been identified by The Eating Disorder Center of Denver. They call it
DRUNKOREXIA Seriously.
Drunkorexia, is mostly experienced by young women and is characterized by their uncontrollable habit of starving themselves all day to save the calories that they will then take in through the alcohol they drink later. Food is typically shunned all day and drinking starts in the afternoon and continues into the night. If these young women do eat (usually only nominal amounts), then they also will purge either through intentional vomiting or more often through the involuntary vomiting associated with severe intoxication. They continuously lose weight while they habitually drink until intoxicated.
Many of these women are also suffering from the influence and emotional intimidation both of general society as well as their husbands or partners. They tragically try to conform to the distorted “photoshopped” images of waif-like girls that dominate female images in our social media, often because a male partner taunts them with jibes about being overweight.
And while men report drinking similar amounts of alcohol to women, the frequency of “binge” drinking is higher among women. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reports that 72% of women who are addicted to alcohol also have an eating disorder!
If you can take a clear look at your life, and at your drinking behavior, and if you can see that you too are continuously starving yourself — losing weight to “look good” for someone – while you drink your life away in loneliness and despair, then it’s time for you to make an appointment with a qualified therapist. Begin today to re-claim both your natural beauty and your independence from alcohol.
Re-claim your life. 
For more information on this critical issue, and on the Eating Disorders Center of Denver, visit this link: http://tiny.cc/EgMMR.
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Thank you, Dr. Nickens, for encouraging those who are suffering from starvation states and excessive alcohol to seek appropriate treatment. However, to clarify, the Eating Disorder Center of Denver did not identify “Drunkorexia.” This term has been used within social media for quite a while. We at EDC-D, have simply seen a surge of this eating disordered presentation recently.
Anita Kumar-Gill, MD
Medical Director
Board Certified Psychiatrist
Thank you Dr. Kumar-Gill. I had never heard the term and your article was startling and informative. I hope more practitioners will take notice of your work.
Dr. John Nickens
Dr. Nickens,
Thank you for referencing Eating Disorder Center of Denver (EDC-D) and our experience with “drunkorexia.”
This past summer, EDC-D noticed an increase of eating disorder patients who also had binge drinking problems. Of all the college-aged females enrolled in the program at that time, 75 percent met the criteria for alcohol abuse. With an increase in the prevalence of both eating disorders and binge drinking, EDC-D tailored its treatment program to offer a dual focus on substance abuse and eating disorders. For more information, please visit http://tiny.cc/EgMMR.
Thank you again, Dr. Nickens, for bringing more attention to this troubling phenomenon.
–Eating Disorder Center of Denver
Thank you. I’ve updated my post to include the link you provided. I hope others will follow the link and learn more about your work.
Dr. John Nickens