Trakia Journal of Sciences, No 3, pp 262-267, 2020 Copyright © 2020 Trakia University Available online at: http://www.uni-sz.bg ISSN 1313-3551 (online) doi:10.15547/tjs.2020.03.013 Review ALCOREXIA - PSYCHOSOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF THE EATING DISORDER B. Hoffmann* Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland ABSTRACT Although alcorexia has not yet been formally classified as a disease entity, it is a serious, complex health problem. Alcorexia belongs to behavioral eating disorders and consists in restricting the amount of food intake in order to increase the ability of drinking alcohol without fear of gaining weight. As far as so called traditional eating disorders are usually motivated by a latent desire to be lean and control your body, alcorexia appears to be motivated by the desire to drink large amounts of alcohol along with the desire to be slim. As the disorder is progressing, the situation may change, both in the direction of anorexia as well as addiction to alcohol. For the purposes of this article, I use the term "alcorexia," but it should be added that the term is used interchangeably with such terms as drunkorexia, alcoholic anorexia, or alcoholic bulimia. Key words: alcorexia, drunkorexia, eating disorder, behavioral disorder, alcohol, body. Although eating disorders as a health problem Alcorexia involves the limitation of the amount have been talked about for many years, this of consumed food so that one can drink more phenomenon raises many questions until now, alcohol without the concern about gaining and definition and diagnostic difficulties weight. Sometimes there are also used weight occupy a leading place among them. After loss aids: laxatives and diuretics. This tactic is many years of discussions on the proper colloquially called the "liquid diet" and is classification of eating disorders (1), it was about "saving" calories so that they can be found that they were based on significant "used" for alcohol drinking (3). Thus, alcorexia changes in self-perception, pursuing unrealistic is essentially a disorder involving two goals regarding one's own appearance, dysfunctional areas: excessive alcohol imposing a strict diet and changes in the consumption and disturbed food-related functioning of appetite control centers. All behavior. these, together with other observations and studies allowed classifying eating disorders as Although alcorexia can be associated with mental disorders, which complications can anorexia, it is definitely less than anorexia, have a significant impact on the functioning of bulimia, or orthorexia. So how can one the whole organism. distinguish anorexia from alcorexia? Straightforwardly you can put it this way: a A similar situation occurs in the case of person suffering from anorexia has a disturbed alcorexia. The term alcorexia was first used in image of their own body, perceives themselves medical language in 2008, and although it has as an obese person and by reducing food not yet been formally classified as a complex intake, reduces their weight on and on. People eating disorder, it can be said that alcorexia is a suffering from alcorexia reduce food intake not serious and still threatening health problem (2). to gain weight and to be able to drink alcohol ____________________________________ without pangs of conscience that they will gain *Correspondence to: Dr hab. Beata Hoffmann, weight. Alcorectics, unlike anorexics, rarely Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of take action to reduce weight as the aim “in Warsaw, Poland, [email protected] itself”. Such behaviors occur before alcohol 262 Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 18, № 3, 2020 HOFFMANN B. consumption. Of course, as the disorder before the event or (less often) sometime after progresses, the situation may change, both in its end (51.2%) (10). the direction of anorexia as well as addiction to alcohol. Knight draws attention to the particular toxicity of alcohol regularly consumed both on Some concepts even say that alcorexia is an empty stomach and after a series of exercises. eating disorder combined with alcohol This increases, according to the researcher, addiction (4). Here, however, it is important to "the risk of serious physical and psychological determine whether eating disorders and weight health consequences, including brain and heart loss are the consequences of existing damage, memory loss, loss of consciousness, alcoholism, or whether, as is in the case of depression and cognitive deficits" (11). alcorexia, limitation of food consumption Additionally, differences in alcohol results from a desire to drink alcohol without a metabolism at men and women cause that threat of gaining weight. As far as so-called women are vulnerable to its detrimental traditional eating disorders are usually influence more than men. motivated by latent desire to be lean and control someone’s body, alcorexia seems to be The results of Pauline Anderson's research also motivated by the desire to drink large amounts reveal that alcorexia is a new trend persisting of alcohol along with the desire to be slim. particularly among the Canadian student community and, like in Knight's research, this Coexisting eating disorders and alcohol abuse tendency is more common among female have been reported in many scientific studies students (12). According to the research of the (5). The CASA report published in 2001 mentioned authors, the fact that the problem presented data showing that 12-18% of people affects young women more often than men suffering from anorexia and 30-50% of people may be due to the fact that women pay more suffering from bulimia were abusing or attention to their body weight and, addicted to alcohol (6). According to research consequently, the caloric content of meals. For published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol this purpose, they limit their menu and apply and Drugs (8/2013), a gene that predisposes to starvation diet to maintain the desired calorie alcohol dependence, in turn, increases the risk balance when consuming alcohol. This of developing bulimia by 38 to 53 % (7). phenomenon requires attention, thus I will come back to it later. Alcorectic means who? Research on the risk factors contributing to The second of the aforementioned tracks falling into alcorexia has been conducted for a concerns the dissemination of alcorexia among short time. So far, it was focused on the both sexes. Although it was initially analysis of demographic variables that could considered that the problem was primarily indicate some dependencies. As a result of the affecting women, studies show that men are research, two main tracks were identified. increasingly inclined to engage in typical alcorexia behaviors. Dr. Dipali V. Rinker from One of them indicates that alcorexia affects the University of Houston in Texas, explains more often women, which, according to this by the fact that men tend to consume more researchers, reflects women’s tendency to alcohol than women, and also become consume alcohol more often and in larger increasingly aware and involved in their body amounts (8), especially by university students image. Aestheticization is spreading widely, in Anglo-Saxon countries, where almost 60% including more and more men who have of girls report alcohol abuse (9). already awaited "their" illness with a cultural background analogous to appetite disorders Alissa Knight’s research, conducted among (anorexia and bulimia). It is a set of bodily Australian female students, also confirms that practices defined by the term athletica nervosa, behaviors characteristic for alcorexia are which mainly comes down to compulsive, almost common. These behaviors usually come leading to even extreme fatigue, physical down to regular skipping of meals before the exercises subordinated to body sculpting, while event where alcohol is drunk (37.5%), the motivation to take these actions are consuming low-calorie or sugar-free alcoholic contents and rich iconosphere entered in men's beverages during that event (46.3%) and lifestyle magazines ( 13). performing intense physical exercises just Trakia Journal of Sciences, Vol. 18, № 3, 2020 263 HOFFMANN B. According to Rinker, male students can easier of addiction, the other includes social factors adopt bad eating habits associated with inherent in a wider environment of the alcorexia, because by definition they attach individual, as well as in the culture in which less importance to regular nutrition than female the individual lives. students (14). According to some researchers, alcorectics At the beginning of 2016, the Research Society come from dysfunctional families dominated on Alcoholism published preliminary results of by defective behavioral patterns. Factors medical examination of 1,184 students at the triggering appearance of the disorder include University of Houston, which showed that critical remarks about look and fatness, coming among over-drinkers (more than four drinks from the nearest environment, as well as for women and more than five for men during family factors, enhancing abnormal eating a day), up to eight out of ten people were behavior. Not without the significance is the involved in at least one alcorectic behavior at process of "alcoholic socialization" in a family: least once per month (15). The study also model of alcohol consumption and purpose of confirmed that more often such behaviors were its consumption. showed by students of both sexes living at university campuses than by those living Factors related to the wider environment of outside of such campuses. individual as well as cultural conditions seem to play no less important role. According to the So far the most extensive study of alcorexia cited A. Knight, alcorexia enables fulfillment carried out by Professor Adam Barry of the of two of the most significant social behaviors University of Florida, on a sample of 22,000 for young adults: drinking alcohol and having students from forty universities in the United a slim figure (23). States, confirmed the particular importance of university campuses as places initiating the The ideal of a slim figure is not the invention development of this disorder (16).