People who continue to tan excessively despite known health risks, such as skin cancer, may be suffering from a mental illness, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Bowling Green State University found that some people who engage in excessive tanning may also be suffering from obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorders (BDD), according to a press release.

"Although tanning behavior could be separate and distinct from these concerns, it's possible that the symptoms of OCD or BDD are contributing to the tanning in some way. For these people, prevention messages and public health campaigns may not be as helpful, but further assessment and treatment could be," Erin Bonar, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center and an alumna at Bowling Green State University.

For the study, researchers collected data from 533 students from Bowling Green State University.

Out of the 533 students, 31 percent met the criteria for tanning dependence and 12 percent for problematic tanning.

They also found that being female and screening positive for body dysmorphic disorder and OCD were significantly associated with tanning dependence, while those with problematic tanning only screened positive for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"It may be that some individuals in our sample engage in excessive tanning because of obsessive thoughts about, or the compulsion to tan, or because tanning is a strategy for relaxation to decrease OCD symptoms," Lisham Ashrafioun, a Bowling Green State University, Ph. D student in psychology, said in a statement. "If problem tanning is conceptualized as an addictive disorder, obsessions and compulsions about tanning may instead represent craving to tan."

Researchers also looked at whether tanning should be classified as an addiction.

"We shouldn't necessarily rule this out especially if people are tanning excessively, even if they aren't experiencing any OCD or body dysmorphic disorder. Because of this problem we should look at the potential for tanning addiction more."

Ashrafioun said they see their research as potential evidence and firepower for continuing to researchers the conceptualizing of excessive tanning as an addiction.

Their paper, "Tanning Addiction and Psychopathology: Further Evaluation of Anxiety Disorders and Substance Abuse," is currently in press in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and will be published later this year.