What is drunkorexia and how does it affect us psychologically?

Let's see what are the effects of drunkorexia on our way of thinking and behaving.

Drunkorexia: what it is and how it affects us (JAVIER ARES) Drunkorexia is one of those psychopathological disorders in which it is clear how two different disorders can reinforce each other. That is why, when faced with this kind of mental health complication, it is essential to act quickly and seek professional help.

In this article we will see what are the main effects of drunkorexia and why it is so harmful.

What is drunkorexia?

Drunkorexia is a psychological and psychiatric disorder by which people who develop a psychopathological obsession with Weight loss or avoidance of heavy eating also develop a dysfunctional relationship with alcoholic beverages.. In most cases, this takes the form of people who exhibit the typical symptomatology of anorexia or bulimia and who do so at least partly motivated by the idea of compensating for their propensity to drink too much (or too often) alcohol.

In other words, drunkorexia is a pattern of behavior and thinking that is harmful to mental health because an action-reaction logic emerges between excessive drinking and obsessive avoidance of adding calories.

Normally, the latter is an "adjustment" made by the person as a consequence of the former, so as not to gain too much weight because of the calories gained from drinking.However, there are also cases of people who eat very little to reach a state of drunkenness sooner, or even people who, having an alcohol addiction problem, decide to save as much as possible by cutting down on food expenses.

However, since in these other versions of drunkorexia the causes of the problem are very different, and since it is not a defined concept in diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-5, in practice the term is often used to informally describe only the first of the behavioral patterns, which shows a more symmetrical combination of addiction and the usual eating disorders (EDs), bulimia and anorexia. Drunkorexia has been found to occur mostly in young women, which corresponds with the prevalence data for these two EDs. In addition, it is known that people who have developed an eating disorder have a much higher risk of also developing a drug addiction problem.

How does drunkorexia affect us?

As we have seen, drunkorexia is not an "official" clinical entity that appears in the diagnostic manuals used by psychotherapists or psychiatrists. However, it has come to constitute a useful concept that is used for pragmatic reasons, given that it describes a reality that, although not yet very well studied or delineated from theory, is present in the daily practice of mental health professionals..

In this sense, the main characteristics of drunkorexia, the aspects in which its influence on people is noted, are the following.

1. Dysfunctional dynamics of impulsivity and self-control.

Drunkorexia is characterized by a pattern of behavior characterized by decompensation between moments of strict self-control and moments of disinhibition, something that also occurs in bulimia.which also occurs in bulimia. Thus, the person is "lurching" with his behavior in terms of health and calorie intake.

2. Feeling of guilt

As we have seen, in drunkorexia there are two apparently antagonistic components: the desire to control everything that is done, and, on the other hand, the dependence on alcohol, a drug that like all those that generate addiction, drags the person towards the short-termism and towards the urgent consumption of substances. This makes the person feel very guilty just after realizing that he/she has indulged in excesses, and this source of discomfort, in turn, acts as a fuel for this psychological alteration, generating a vicious circle.generating a vicious circle.

3. Addiction and EDD in depth

Whatever the origin of drunkorexia in each person, this alteration makes that as time goes by, both the addiction and the eating behavior disorder become more and more rooted, since both reinforce each other.

4. Tendency to hide what is happening

Normally, people with drunkorexia tend to assume that others do not understand them and that they must hide their problems with alcohol and food. so that they don't have to deal with the obstacles of friends and family trying to stop this behavior (not to mention the fact that they feel guilty and ashamed of what is happening to them, so they try to keep a low profile in this area of their lives).

Do you want psychotherapeutic support?

If you are interested in professional psychological support, I invite you to contact me.

My name is Javier Ares and I am a General Health Psychologist specialized in emotional, anxiety and couple problems in adults and adolescents. I offer face-to-face sessions and also in the online modality by video call.