From her 18 to her 25 years, before each evening, Pauline had the same ritual. Sip a liter of coffee when you wake up, accompanied by one or two madeleines, then nothing more… until aperitif time. Aperitifs during which the alcohol flowed freely. In one evening, the girl used to drink two bottles of white wine or champagne by herself. Pauline, like many young women, suffered from alcoholorexia.
“Alcoholorexia is binge drinking, a rapid and significant consumption of alcohol, accompanied by fasting behavior”, explains Professor Laurent Karila, addictologist psychiatrist at the Paul Brousse hospital in Villejuif and creator of the podcast “Addiktion “. According to several studies carried out in the United States, this behavior mainly concerns young women. In France, even if this phenomenon is not quantified, it is far from being marginal according to the addictologist.
The cult of the body
“These young women choose between eating and drinking,” summarizes Céline Casse, founder of StopTCA, a platform specializing in the treatment of eating disorders. They act in this way so as not to take a gram, in a society where the cult of appearance reigns. They may also resort to compensatory behaviors before or after the evening, with the taking of laxatives, vomiting or excessive sport. If Pauline no longer fasts before going out today, she runs more before a party if she knows she will have the opportunity to drink.
It is for this reason that Céline Casse classifies alcoholorexia among unspecified eating disorders, such as orthorexia, a neurotic behavior characterized by the obsession with healthy eating, or bigorexia, addiction to sports. . “These are anorexic behaviors, but not anorexia nervosa,” said the doctor.
When she resorted to it, Pauline saw a double interest in this practice. “I could drink without gaining weight and the effects of alcohol were felt much more quickly. “And that is the interest sought by these young women, according to Laurent Karila: “to be stoned very quickly”. “They are looking for a massive and rapid intoxication. »
Physical and psychological consequences
Drinking large amounts of alcohol while eating little is not without danger. “When you are fasting, drunkenness will happen much faster, especially since there are slight physiological differences between men and women, specifies the addictologist. In women, alcohol is eliminated less quickly than in men. »
The dangers are therefore numerous: alcoholic coma, loss of consciousness, risky behavior such as unprotected sex and a greater likelihood of being the victim of sexual assault.. Repeatedly, this type of behavior can cause long-term damage, including brain, heart and intestinal damage. Not to mention the impact on mental health, with an increase in anxiety and sadness felt.
Hard to spot this type of behavior
Laurent Karila ensures that he does not see these women in the hospital because they do not consult for alcohol dependence or eating disorders. “Alcoholorexia is insufficiently identified. However, detecting it is essential. For the addictologist, integrating questions about alcohol consumption and the patient’s previous practices during the medical and psychological interview at the start of the consultation with the doctor could be a solution, the general practitioner often being the first actor to identify . “The goal is above all to raise awareness and inform about the risks around this practice. »
Questions rarely addressed, in a country where the consumption of alcohol remains taboo. As a reminder, nearly one in four French people exceeds the recommended alcohol consumption limits, according to data from the France Public Health Barometer carried out in 2021 on a population aged 18 to 75.