Binge drinking and eating disorders are common among young and college-aged adults.

When aspects of both collide, it can make for a deadly habit.

According to assistant professor in behavioral sciences Cecil Hutto, “drunkorexia” is not yet classified as an official eating disorder, but is the “street term” designated for a specific behavioral pattern.

It combines binge drinking and eating disorders such as anorexia.

“In my past clinical practice I have worked with people who eat less to be able to drink more,” said interim director and clinical psychologist Bill McCown. “Alcohol has a lot of calories. A 12-ounce beer is about the same as a small bowl of ice cream.”

Drunkorexia is when a person deprives themselves of food throughout the day to keep their calories under control and not gain weight when they go drinking.

And without a stomach full of food to slow down the rate of alcohol absorption, that person would then become intoxicated quicker.

These people generally end up binge eating when they are drunk, resulting in a high calorie intake.

These people are risking malnutrition and extensive liver damage. Alcohol poisoning is also at a higher risk.

By starving the body of calories and binge drinking, a person’s body is unable to process alcohol at a fast enough rate to avoid poisoning.

Drunkorexia has also been defined as a method of purging by consuming food with large amounts of alcohol.

This is done generally to induce vomiting.

“[Throwing up] works because alcohol tends to enter the stomach quicker than food,” McCown said. “The trick is to eat after you drink some, then induce vomiting and then eat and drink some more. I don’t recommend this approach to weight reduction.”

According to McCown, when a person is drunk they are at a very high risk for accidentally asphyxiating on vomit.

This is called bronchial aspiration.

It can be fatal.

This behavior is more commonly noticed among women, but has also  occurred with men.

Many medical experts believe this behavior is more common than most people might think.

It may be a new term, but it is definitely not a new disorder.