July 27, 2016
One expert, Dr. Frances R. Levin, explains the difference between being addicted and just making poor choices. Studies have shown that the older a person is before beginning exposure to a harmful behavior, generally the lower the incidence of addiction and its severity. “So even though sunbathing is not yet considered an addiction, we know a lot of sun is bad for us, so I like the idea of not letting 15-year-olds on a tanning bed,” Dr. Levin says. “While we don’t want to minimize the impact of harmful behaviors, we have to be careful about labeling things as addictive or a disorder, until we have more data,” she cautions.