Tanorexia

Tanorexia, a term used to explain addiction to sunbathing or use of tanning beds.

A growing addiction especially among young women is tanorexia - the desire to be permanently tanned.

As a result, tanning becomes a compulsion similar to behavior associated with eating disorders such as anorexia - giving rise to the non-clinical designation of tanorexia.

The 36-item questionnaire included demographic data (gender, age, place of residence) questions about reason for sunbed, exposure to artificial and natural UVR, knowledge about UVR exposure, skin type, tanning methods, hygiene in the tanning salons, sunbeds in children and youths, side effects of solar radiation, solar radiation protection, tanorexia, sources of knowledge on tanning.

New entries unrelated to the worlds of the internet or texting include "tanorexia" (an obsessive desire to get a tan), "jazz hands" (a gesture with hands waved to express excitement) and "trolleyed" (extremely drunk).

An addiction to tanning - so-called "tanorexia" - is linked to anxiety, excessive drinking and use of drugs such as cannabis, it found.

I know I have a bad case of 'tanorexia' - the name that's given to people who don't believe they're brown enough and always want to try to be browner.

Anyway, I suppose I had a serious case of what is now termed 'tanorexia' even to the point of burning myself painfully on one occasion when I thought I'd just make myself that extra bit golden.

Celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Hulk Hogan admit to "tanorexia" and TV shows such as Sunset Tan glamorize the practice.

Tanning dependence, sometimes called "tanorexia," is common in young adults and can be predicted by certain demographic and behavioral variables, according to a survey of 400 college students.

The 33-year-old says "tanorexia", as it has been nicknamed, has left her with pigmentation scars on her face and she admits it's the biggest regret of her life.

The 14-year-old has used sunbeds repeatedly over the past three years and experts believe she suffers from the newly-identified condition 'tanorexia' - an obsession with going to tanning parlours and being brown.