Sunbed tanning addiction linked to anxiety, drug abuse

19th April 2010 - Indoor tanning can be addictive, and people who are hooked on tanning beds may also be prone to anxiety and substance abuse problems, according to a new US study in the Archives of Dermatology.

Despite the well-publicised risks of skin cancer, indoor tanning is on the rise among adolescents and young adults. Many people still feel that they look better when they have a tan and report that the act of tanning is relaxing.

From April next year, under 18s in the UK will be banned from using sunbeds to protect them from UV rays.

The new study

In the new study of 421 students from a large US university, 229 students had tanned in indoor salons. Of these, a total of 90 (39.3 percent) met criteria for tanning addiction on one measure and 70 (30.6 percent) met criteria on the other measure. In general, indoor tanning addicts tanned more frequently than their non-addicted counterparts. The students who were addicted to indoor tanning were also more likely to have symptoms of anxiety and/or greater use of alcohol, marijuana, and other substances, than their peers who were not addicted to indoor tanning.

“This study provides further support for the notion that tanning may be conceptualised as an addictive behaviour for a subgroup of individuals who tan indoors,” conclude study authors Dr Catherine E. Mosher and Dr Sharon Danoff-Burg.

If the link between anxiety, substance abuse and indoor tanning addiction is confirmed by future studies, “treating an underlying mood disorder may be a necessary step in reducing skin cancer risk among those who frequently tan indoors,” they write.

Ultraviolet (UV) light exposure from indoor tanning beds and the sun promotes the release of endorphins, which are our brain’s natural ‘feel-good’ chemicals.

“You just feel good afterward,” says Dr Darrell Rigel, a clinical professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Centre. “Tanning is an addiction, just like smoking, and there is a cancer outcome just like there is with smoking.”

“If you are feeling stressed and anxious, you may feel better after tanning, but there are much healthier ways to reduce anxiety,” says psychologist Carolyn Heckman. “It is possible that if we treat the underlying anxiety, depression, substance abuse or body image issues, we would reduce indoor tanning and the health risks associated with indoor tanning."

The tanning industry in the US says tanning is more of a trend than an addiction.

Risks of indoor tanning

“We are seeing women in their 20s with melanoma where the sun doesn’t shine, but where the UV rays from tanning beds do, and we would have never seen this a decade ago,” Rigel says.

“Indoor tanning is not safer than sunbathing and may even be more dangerous,” Heckman says. Besides increasing risk of skin cancer, tanning also promotes wrinkles and age spots, she says.