Some Teenage Goths Might Suffer From Depressive Disorders

A new scientific study points out that some teenage goths might suffer from depressive disroders. To be more precise, some of those who identify as belonging to the goth subculture may be correlated with people diagnosed with depression and, moreover, would be inclined to self-harm.

The goth subculture is derived from the punk culture, and it gained quite a following across Europe and the US, including European countries such as Great Britain and Germany. Moreover, there are many types of goths, the subculture’s branches being truly diversified. Some might take a liking to the English Victorian era, while other “modern” goths are inclined to pertain to the deathrock or cyber-goth cultures.

Moreover, the gothic subculture tastes and aesthetics tend to slightly overlap, regarding the culture as a whole, but there are specific features for each sub-branch of the goth ensemble, some choosing to wear dark, elaborate make-up, black clothes, for instance, and they tend to dye their hair either in bright, a bit eccentric colors or keep it black.

According to the study, those who truly felt they pertained to the goth subculture were five times more inclined than average teenagers to self-harm.

The study monitored young adults who had reached the age of 18, when depression tends to peak. Health experts started analyzing 15-year-old teenage goths, whereas, three years later, they attempted to diagnose and observe their mental health via standardized diagnosis methods.

Furthermore, researchers said that the depressive disorder prevalent in some goth teens was due to social selection factors, as not everybody tends to understand the goths’ sympathy for the macabre and some might even reject them.

Whereas some goths think of their culture as a lifestyle, besides attending their specific music festivals, they tend to get-together via online social platforms, for instance Vampirefreaks, an online community which promotes the “gothic-industrial culture.”

Moreover, some goths tend to describe what the subculture revolves around as “finding beauty in darkness”, being nonconformists and trying to make average people more open-minded.

New-York based Jack Corax, a 21-year old candidate, said that goths tend to express and talk about their emotions more than the average individual, and like debating concepts that might be considered taboo, such as mental illness, death and suicide.

Moreover, an Irish psychologist working with teens for 25 years, Dr. Gillian Moore-Groarke, explained that most of the goths she encountered didn’t want to fit in average standards, and in an expected norm, preferring to adopt the gothic appearance and lifestyle

“as a way of expressing their frustrations with the expectations of their peers”

However, the study did not draw a comparison in between goth teenagers prone to depression and the vast majority of teens who might experience this condition.

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