Tanning dependence

Tanning dependence is a syndrome where an individual appears to have a physical or psychological dependence on sunbathing or the use of ultraviolet (UV) tanning beds. Compulsive tanning may satisfy the definition of a behavioral addiction as well.

Tanning dependence may have a physiological basis involving endogenous opioids. There is evidence that UV exposure produces beta-endorphin in the epidermis and conflicting evidence of this opioid being released into the blood system, a pathway to the brain. A small study also found the opioid antagonist naltrexone reduced preference for UV tanning beds and at higher doses produced withdraw symptoms in frequent tanners. Better understanding of tanning dependence requires further controlled studies, especially in imaging and neurobiology.

The finding that excessive tanning can lead to dependence is based upon "the observations of many dermatologists." Dermatologists tell researchers that although they advise their patients not to visit tanning beds because of the risk of melanoma, patients still do. In a 2014 literature review, researchers wrote that many people who tan excessively meet psychiatry's symptom criteria for substance abuse.

Tanorexia is the term used to describe a condition in which a person, most notably Caucasian people, participates in excessive outdoor sun tanning or excessive use of other skin tanning methods (such as tanning beds) to achieve a darker skin complexion because they perceive themselves as unacceptably pale. The syndrome is different from tanning dependence, although both may fit into the same syndrome and can be considered a subset of tanning dependence.

Although the term "tanorexia" has been used by the media and several doctors to describe the syndrome, both the word and syndrome have not been widely accepted by the medical community, and is considered slang by many. The term was coined after the medical condition anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight. It can be likened to the common practice of adding the suffix "-aholic" (from the term alcoholic) to the end of any action or food someone enjoys extensively and often (e.g., "choc-aholic," "work-aholic" "golf-aholic," "shop-aholic," etc.).

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