Drunkorexia “involves skipping meals, exercising heavily before drinking alcohol, taking laxatives or diuretics, or vomiting after imbibing. A study presented last week at a meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism suggests this disturbing trend is on the rise,” as stated in CBS’s video ““Drunkorexia” a disturbing trend on college campuses.”
Out of a survey of 1,184 college students, conducted mostly in Texas, said they had drunk alcohol heavily at least once in the past 30 days. More than 80 percent had engaged in at least one drunkorexia-related behavior in the preceding three months.
College Students across the U.S. and Radford University are no exception to Drunkorexia either. Radford created the Substance Abuse and Violence Education Support Services (SAVES) office, August 2017, to help reduce drinking-related acts around campus. AlcoholEdu being the primary service to provide valuable information about alcohol use in college, which all incoming college students have to take in the being of the year.
“My perspectives on Drunkorexia firstly was that I had no idea this was an actual issue, but it’s honestly terrifying and completely dangerous,” said Kaylee Sturgis, an Anthropological Forensic, and Science and History freshman. “I think it’s something that definitely needs to be brought up at any time because you can never hear it too much. Especially with underage drinkers and athletes who should not be doing it in the first place, it’s life-threatening regardless of how cool people think drinking is.”
“I think that Drunkorexia is definitely a thing that people do and don’t even realize exactly what they are doing,” said Tyquan Holloway, a Graphic Design freshman. “It would work though if you are trying to lose weight, etc., but not the healthiest option. Teenagers and adults in college are full of dumb ideas like this one, and it works, they care about the effects that it would have on their body. I think it is important to be smart when you drink and to talk to people out of doing these things; Especially when they are drunk.”
Radford University’s Substance Abuse and Violence Education Support Services (SAVES) is dedicated to reducing negative consequences related to substance abuse and/or violence through campus-wide initiatives that address these issues and promote student success. For general questions about AlcoholEdu for College, please contact Radford University SAVES at 540-831-5709 or saves@radford.edu. Note that the SAVES office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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Dylan Lepore 