Drunkorexia is a term many college students are probably not familiar with. However, they might be familiar with the behavior that constitutes with being a drunkorexic.

The definition of drunkorexia states that this issue involves both substance abuse and binge drinking among college-aged women and men during the day, in order to get more drunk at night. However, drunkorexia cannot be medically diagnosed and is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSMV).

The symptoms that may lead someone to become a drunkorexic are:

1. Counting calories before drinking to make sure that no weight will be gained while drinking.
2. Skipping meals or not eating before intaking alcohol.
3. Exercising before consuming alcohol to balance out the number of calories that are consumed.
4. Consuming large amounts of alcohol in order to induce vomiting.

All of these actions are very dangerous on their own and adding alcohol to the mix can be detrimental.

This issue is not new, however, and the main demographic affected is college students. Especially students involved in fraternities and sororities, but the reason each gender partakes in this issue is different.

According to the University of Missouri, college-aged men use this technique so that they can save money, while college-aged women use this technique to avoid weight gain. Students have also admitted to using this technique in order to get drunk faster. This type of behavior can lead to alcoholism and other types of disorders if ignored.

A reason this trend could gain popularity is due to the influence of celebrities and social media. Many college students feel the need to portray a certain image on social media. They hold themselves to unrealistic standards and behaviors, but what they don’t realize is that this type of behavior can lead to serious consequences.

Before a night out the best thing to do is eat a healthy meal and drink a glass of water, or two.