Sunbeds Are Addictive

A report recently stated that people who are regular users of sunbeds to gain a tan are at more risk of anxiety attacks and are prone to drug and alcohol abuse.

 

The BBC website stated – “A study published in the Archives of Dermatology looked at 421 college students, 229 of whom said they used sunbeds or sun lamps. The sun bed-users had visited the salon an average of 23 times in the past year.”

 

The researchers asked these individuals to fill out questionnaires designed to screen for addictive behaviours. Depending on the definition used, between 30% and 39% of sun bed users were classed as being addicted.

These people reported feeling guilty about using sunbeds too much and wanting to cut down on usage.

 

Further questioning showed that students who met the criteria for addiction to sunbeds were more likely to show signs of anxiety and use drugs such as alcohol and marijuana.

 

Sun bed users are at the high end risk of skin cancers and, in the UK, there are laws going through Parliament to ban under 18 year olds from using the sun beds; in Scotland, a law already exists that bans under 18 year olds from using tanning beds.

 

Scotland has thousands of sun bed salons and it always seems to be the ‘poorer’ areas that have a higher concentration of the sun bed shops.

There have been social issues linked to lack of education about the risks of using tanning beds, though the evidence is there to see: young women especially, ignore the warnings and become addicted to looking ‘brown’.

 

The problem with a sun bed tan is that it has to be topped up and maintained or it fades quickly. Where I am from in the East End of Glasgow, there are heaps of sun tan salons; and a few in the West End where I now live. That maintenance of sun bed tanning is expensive and very damaging to young skin. It’s a fact that they cause cancer, yet their presence is there on almost every high street in Britain.

 

I watched a documentary about tanning addicts and young women believe they don’t look good unless they are tanned brown but, with Scottish fair skin and Celtic hair colouring, they often look an unhealthy ‘orange’ colour. 

 

It’s not exclusive to women either and there are now programmes designed through education in the UK to help people who are addicted to using tanning beds.

 

Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York say steps to reduce people's risk of skin cancer should address the addictive nature of sunbeds and the potential relationship to other addictions.

 

"Despite ongoing efforts to educate the public about the health risks associated with natural and non-solar UV radiation, recreational tanning continues to increase among young adults," they warned.

 

They added that research should look at whether screening for anxiety and depression screening would be useful for people who use sunbeds frequently.

 

But the chairman of the Sunbed Association, Gary Lipman, discounted the findings, saying: "I am not a scientist but I have read enough scientific studies over the years to be able to see immediately that this one has little if any scientific merit."

 

My own opinion bears weight to the argument about anxiety. I have a friend who, if she doesn’t get her weekly tanning, gets fractious and her self esteem dips. She won’t leave the house until she has topped-up her tan.

 

Sun bed tanning has been linked to over-use by people of a lower income. Less middle class educated young people in Scotland use sun beds, which begs the question – Why do the people who can least afford to suntan spend the most money on it?

 

It must be a cultural issue or a status symbol. The glossy magazines are full of paparazzi photos of the latest pop stars with glossy brown skin and bright white smiles; young people want to emulate the star’s they adore.

 

There is an irony that a lot of people in the UK have racist tendencies, yet they can look darker skinned than the people they discriminate against.

 

On the flip side of that comment, bear in mind we still have dark skinned people of African American and Asian ethnicity trying to ‘whiten’ their skin and suffering terrible health consequences in their efforts.

 

Sun bed tanning and chemical skin whiteners are a huge industry in the UK.

 

My own daughter has the palest skin and whitest legs in our family and she has occasionally fake tanned them - up until last year when she finally embraced her natural colour and wore her own skin with pride.

 

Self esteem has lots to do with wanting to ‘fit in’ and feel sexy, healthy or fashionable. But, if the fake tan beds are a sure fire way to get cancer, aged damaged skin and increased anxiety maybe it’s time we all accepted what ethnicity we are and praised our teens whatever the colour of their skin.

 

If sun beds can highlight anxious addictive behaviour then its time for us all to take a closer look at their effects.