BBC BERLIN - Young people who identify as goths may be at increased risk of depression and self-harm, a study suggests.
Researchers could not fully explain the link, but suggest a tendency for goths to distance themselves from society could play a part. They say though the vast majority of teenage goths will have no problems, an important minority may need extra support. The work appears in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
The goth movement - with its emphasis on black clothes, heavy black make-up and sometimes gloomy music with doom laden lyrics - has been attracting adolescents for many years. In this study, researchers looked at 3,694 15-year-olds based around Bristol. They found the more young people identified with the goth subculture, the higher their likelihood of self-harm and depression. Those who saw themselves as part of the goth group were already more likely to have shown signs of depression before the age of 15 and to have been bullied in the past. But scientists argue the link remains even once these factors are accounted for.
Researcher Dr Rebecca Pearson, from the University of Bristol, said there could be many reasons behind the trend, including the possibility that teenagers susceptible to depression were attracted to the goth way of life. She added: “The extent to which young people self-identify with goth subculture may represent the extent to which at-risk young people feel isolated, ostracised or stigmatised by society.”
Nattalie Richardson, 29, is from Norfolk. She says her depression developed before she became a goth. “I personally think that kids who are depressed or have mental illnesses are drawn to ‘alt’ style as a way of appearing as different on the outside as they feel on the inside,” she says. “I know that was the reason I started dressing differently and became alternative. That and the image went with the music I listened to that seemed to speak to the jumble that was inside my head and help me realise I wasn’t the only one who felt the way I did as a teenager.
“I was depressed and ill before I was a goth.”