My Health

Eating Disorders, Substance Abuse Linked

  • 10 - 14 year old girls who diet more than once a week are nearly four times likelier to become smokers.
  • Teenage girls with eating disorder symptoms are almost four times likelier to use inhalants and cocaine.
  • Eating disorders and substance abuse share common factors, including:
    • Brain chemistry and genetics
    • Feelings of low self esteem, depression, anxiety, and/or impulsivity
    • Suffers have a history of sexual or physical abuse

It is estimated that approximately 30-50% of bulimics also abuse alcohol or drugs. The number is much lower among anorexics. Some individuals developed an eating disorder after they became sober. They substituted one for the other. Individuals will go to great lengths to keep these problems hidden from people. They are very secretive about their behaviors, usually because they are very ashamed and feel guilty.
Most mental health professionals agree that there are shared risk factors in both those with eating disorders and those who abuse substances, as well as shared characteristics in both disorders. Some of the common risk factors are:

  • Low self esteem
  • Depression and/or anxiety, brain chemistry alteration
  • Tendency to be impulsive (especially those with bulimia or purging form of anorexia)
  • Experiencing stress or transition
  • Family history of the behavior
  • Vulnerability to messages from others (such as advertising or other media), approval seeking personality

Characteristics of both substance abuse and eating disorders include:

  • Chronic diseases with a high rate of relapse
  • Require intensive treatment
  • Produce mood-altering affects
  • Characterized by secretiveness, rituals, and compulsive behavior
  • Preoccupation with the behavior (drinking, drug use, eating or not eating)
  • May be life-threatening

In both eating disorders and substance abuse, caffeine, alcohol, laxatives, amphetamines, emetics, cocaine and heroin may be used to reduce anxiety and negative emotions, suppress appetite, or rid the body of excess calories.

50 Percent With Eating Disorders Drink, Drug!
"Food for Thought - Substance Abuse and Eating Disorders" -- the first comprehensive examination of the link between substance abuse and eating disorders -- reveals that up to one-half of individuals with eating disorders abuse alcohol or illicit drugs.

For many young women, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are joined at the hip with smoking, binge drinking and illicit drug use. This lethal link between substance abuse and eating disorders sends a signal to parents, teachers and health professionals – where you see the smoke of eating disorders, look for the fire of substance abuse and vice versa.
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the eating disorders most commonly linked to substance abuse. Caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, diuretics, laxatives, emetics, amphetamines, cocaine and heroin as substances used to suppress appetite, increase metabolism, purge unwanted calories and self-medicate negative emotions.

Because health professionals often overlook the link between substance abuse and eating disorders, treatment options are virtually nonexistent for these co-occurring conditions.
"The public health community, parents and policy makers must educate our children about healthy body images from a very young age, and treatment and prevention programs must address the common co-occurrence of substance abuse and eating disorders," stated Susan Foster, vice president and director of policy research and analysis at CASA.
Advertisers put children at greater risk of developing an eating disorder through the portrayal of unrealistic body images. The average American woman is 5'4" tall and weighs approximately 140 pounds, but the average model that purportedly epitomizes our standard of beauty is 5'11" tall and weighs 117 pounds.  Women's magazines contain more than ten times more ads and articles related to weight loss than men's magazines.

While only 15 percent of girls are overweight, 40 percent of girls in grades one through five and 62 percent of teenage girls are trying to lose weight. These girls are especially vulnerable to eating disorders and related substance abuse problems.

SOME DETAILS:

  • Middle school girls (10 – 14 year olds) who diet more than once a week are nearly four times likelier to become smokers.
  • Girls with eating disorder symptoms are almost four times likelier to use inhalants and cocaine.
  • 12.6 percent of female high school students take diet pills, powders or liquids to control their weight without a doctor's advice.
  • Bulimic women who are alcohol dependent report a higher rate of suicide attempts, anxiety, personality and conduct disorders and other drug dependence than bulimic women who are not alcohol dependent.
  • Hispanic girls are slightly more likely than Caucasian girls and significantly more likely than African-American girls to report having fasted for 24 hours or more and having vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight.
  • As many as one million men and boys suffer from an eating disorder; gay and bisexual males are at increased risk of such disorders.

As many as half of those with eating disorders abuse alcohol or illicit drugs, and as many as 35 percent of those with substance abuse problems have eating disorders. Clearly there is a link between eating disorders and substance abuse-but the reason remains a mystery.
Much research points to a belief that both substance abuse and eating disorders are a form of addiction. The link between eating disorders and substance abuse should send up a red flag to parents. When you see one-look for the other.