Tanning use disorder should be added to the DSM-5

Tanning use disorder is an addiction, and should be added to the DSM-5, Raghav Tripathi and his associates maintained in a letter to the editor of the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

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“Strong evidence suggests that tanning use disorder should be included in the DSM-5,” they wrote, noting that individuals who show signs of tanning use disorder have problems quitting, and also are more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol excessively, and engage in other high-risk behaviors.

In the letter, Mr. Tripathi, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, and his associates also noted that frequent tanners have been found to prefer tanning beds that used UV radiation (UVR) over beds that did not, even though they were blinded to which ones did and did not. Reports of pain relief and improved mood following UVR exposure, withdrawal symptoms upon discontinuation of UVR, and the successful use of opioid antagonists to reduce UVR dependence “underscore the importance of viewing tanning as a use disorder.”

The same “brain circuitry and neurotransmitters involved in the reward pathways of other use disorders” are associated with the addictive characteristics of UVR, they wrote.

In one study, people who were compulsive tanners were found to have an increase in “cerebral blood flow in the mesostriatal reward pathway when exposed to UVR.” In another study, opioid antagonism using naltrexone was found to reduce “UVR preference in frequent tanners.”

Understanding the biologic connections is crucial to advocating for formalization of the condition as a recognized disorder in the DSM-5; classification would not only increase awareness of the condition but also standardize approaches to diagnosis and treatment that are key to improving patient care, the authors wrote. Moreover, inclusion of the disorder in the DSM-5 could help to pave the way for inclusion in the ICD-10, which would have broader implications for limiting the overall harmful effects that tanning poses.

The authors had no relevant financial disclosures to report.

SOURCE: Tripathi R et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2018 Oct 13. doi: 10.1111/jdv.15286.