Disordered eating often happens alongside mental health issues like depression, anxiety, or even addiction. While people usually think of drugs like heroin or cocaine when it comes to addiction, many don’t realize that alcoholism and eating disorders can be linked.

These two problems, alcoholism and eating disorders, can occur together and make each other worse. But why are they connected, and can someone recover from both? At Santé Center for Healing, we understand this connection. That’s why we offer programs to treat both disordered eating and alcohol addiction, helping you start your journey to recovery.

Alcoholism and eating disorders

Eating disorders are health problems where a person’s eating habits change in ways that harm their body and mind. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.

Alcoholism and eating disorders often happen together because they both affect the brain. For people with eating disorders, changes in dopamine, a brain chemical, can cause obsessive thoughts about food and weight. Alcohol also changes dopamine and can cause lasting changes in the brain.

Both eating disorders and alcoholism can change the brain’s reward and stress systems, making it hard for people to stop unhealthy or addictive behaviors.

How can you tell if someone is struggling with alcoholism and eating disorders?

To recognize if someone is struggling with both alcoholism and an eating disorder, it’s important to look for warning signs that often overlap due to co-occurring disorders. Co-occurring disorders are when two problems, like a substance use disorder and a mental health condition, appear at the same time in a person. Here are some signs to watch for:

• Frequent binge drinking or an inability to control alcohol consumption.
• Strict, obsessive behaviors around eating, such as skipping meals or extreme dieting.
• Drastic changes in weight, either significant loss or gain.
• Secretive behavior, such as hiding alcohol or food.
• Mood swings, anxiety, or signs of depression tied to shame or guilt.
• Increased isolation or withdrawal from friends and family.

Co-occurring disorders require specialized dual diagnosis treatment.

Alcoholism and anorexia

Anorexia is a condition where people eat very little because they are extremely worried about gaining weight. Common signs of anorexia include:

• Losing a lot of weight quickly
• Fainting
• Feeling tired all the time
• Avoiding people and social activities
• Thinking a lot about weight, calories, and dieting
• Losing hair
• Exercising too much
• Having strict rules about eating

Sometimes, people with anorexia also struggle with drinking too much alcohol. They might use alcohol to try to feel better, but it’s very dangerous, especially for someone who is very underweight.

In some cases, people with anorexia may overeat and then use laxatives or throw up (purging). Alcohol can make this behavior even more harmful and risky.

Bulimia and alcoholism

Bulimia and alcoholism often go hand in hand. Bulimia is an eating disorder where people eat a lot of food in a short time (binge eating) and then try to get rid of it by purging. Adding alcohol to the mix can be very dangerous. Drinking too much at once, called binge drinking, can lead to alcohol poisoning, which can be deadly if not treated quickly. People with bulimia sometimes turn to alcohol to cope with the shame and strong emotions caused by the eating disorder.

Binge eating and alcoholism

Binge eating is similar to bulimia in that the person consumes a huge amount of food, but there’s no purging involved. To manage some of the stress that this issue causes, people might also rely on alcohol as part of their bingeing behavior.

There’s another connection, too. Binge eating after quitting alcohol can become a problem. Food triggers the brain’s reward center, so it can substitute for alcohol in someone who has struggled with addiction. If you find yourself binge eating after quitting alcohol, you may not realize that you’ve shifted the focus of your addiction.

Start treatment for disordered eating at Santé Center for Healing

You might think fixing one problem, like the one that started first, will solve both. It might help for a little while, but even a small trigger can make both issues come back because they’re connected to stress.

To truly heal, you need to treat the root cause of both problems. At Santé Center for Healing, we have programs to help you get your mental and physical health back on track. Call us at 866.238.3154 or fill out our online form to talk to an expert and start treatment for alcoholism and eating disorders.