It is called tanorexia, tanoholism or bronzomania. These terms all designate the same phenomenon that goes beyond the framework of the summer period: the tanning addiction. For people with tanorexia, it is normal to have tanned skin all year round. In order to display a flawless tan, they compulsively expose themselves to the sun. When this is lacking, they rely on the artificial rays of UV cabins, yet widely denounced by the health authorities for their carcinogenic risks.
A biased self-image
This addiction to tanning is akin to a form of dysmorphic(distorted perception of his body), since these addicts are never satisfied with their tan and consider their skin always too “pale”. This biased view of themselves is similar to that suffered by anorexic young girls who are always too fat in the mirror. From then on, this sun addiction becomes as dangerous as anorexia or drug addiction, described in the Spanish daily ABC Augusto Zafra, director of the detoxification unit of the Nisa Aguas Vivas hospital, near Valencia in Spain. .
“We dermatologists are observing a growing obsession with this pathological tan, warns Ramón Grimalt, professor of dermatology at the International University of Catalonia. The memory of the skin will remember 20 or 25 years later the excess radiation and, although the person then drastically avoids the sun, their skin will remind them [cette exposition excessive passée], revealing the inevitable consequences in the form of skin cancer “.
Who is affected by this tanorexia?
Mainly women aged 15 to 35, “who suffer from low self-esteem, low self-acceptance and who constantly seek the approval of those around them starting from an erroneous internalization of role models. dominant in the West which gives value to thinness, body symmetry, social status and economic power [qui ne correspondent pas à la réalité quotidienne]”, specifies Augusto Zafra, specialist in addictions.
How to treat it?
A patient diagnosed with tanorexia should benefit from multidisciplinary therapeutic management. This should include psychotherapy and possible drug treatment to treat symptoms that may accompany this condition such as anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The psychotherapist, for his part, will make the patient work on his behavior towards the sun and help him improve self-esteem by fighting against his dysmorphia.
>> To read also:UV cabin: ten reasons to avoid them
Tanning: 5 tips to prolong your healthy glow
