Ana Death

It is estimated that approximately 30-50% of bulimics also abuse alcohol or drugs. The number is much lower for anorexics. Sometimes a person develops an eating disorder after they become clean and/or sober because they just trade one unhealthy coping skill for another.

Alcohol and drugs are abused for the same reasons as food with an eating disorder. The substances are used to numb or block any feelings just as symptoms in an eating disorder. We will do almost anything to keep our eating disorders a secret from others which can cause a lot of guilt. We may feel we need to get rid of this guilt by abusing drugs and/or alcohol. This is also an unhealthy way of coping. We use these ways to cope because we never learned how to in a healthy way. It is very important to deal with the underlying issues for the behavior so you can overcome them and start to then learn new ways of healthy coping.