Frequent indoor tanners were more likely to report pain, long-term night shift work, and difficulty falling asleep, suggesting tanning was possibly used for self-medicating.

Indoor tanning early in life is associated with risk of anxiety and depression later in life, according to new research in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 

Excluding women with a history of anxiety and/or depression, the study showed:

• Women who used indoor tanning one to two times per year, three to 11 times per year, and 12 or more times per year had an 18 percent, 31 percent, and 46 percent increased risk for developing depression, respectively, when compared to women who never tanned.  
• Risk of developing anxiety was also significantly higher among women who tanned three or more times a year in early life compared to women who never tanned, the study showed.
• Frequent indoor tanners were more likely to report pain, long-term night shift work, and difficulty falling asleep, suggesting tanning was possibly used for self-medicating.
• Individuals who used indoor tanning more frequently also consumed more cigarettes, alcohol, and caffeine.

To arrive at these findings, researchers used data from the Nurses’ Health Study 2 — a large cohort of 116,434 registered US nurses (25-42 years of age in 1989).

“Indoor tanning is not safe, and our research shows that it is also linked to other addictive, unhealthy behaviors,” says study author Erin Wei, MD, FAAD, director of bullous diseases and director of dermatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Westwood,in a news release. “We know that ultraviolet radiation from indoor tanning triggers the production of beta-endorphins, which can relieve pain and improve mood, but the consequences of indoor tanning do not outweigh the risks. We want people who continue to indoor tan to stop this dangerous behavior and talk with their doctors about healthy strategies to look and feel better.”