A new study of 3,694 15-year-olds based in Bristol, has found that young people who identify as goths are three times more at risk of being depressed and five times more likely to self-harm.
Quoted in the Guardian, Lucy Bowes, the lead author of the study, has said: “Our study does not show that being a goth causes depression or self-harm but rather that some young goths are more vulnerable to developing these conditions.”
But let’s just break that down. Why goths are more at risk of developing depression is unclear and, of course, to speculate may be unhelpful. While some commentators have pointed towards social isolation and peer conformity as possible reasons for the trend, it could also be argued that belonging to such a closely-identifiable sub culture may actually give young people a feeling of support. That being a goth – with a fairly codified way of dressing a socialising – makes people feel less isolated.
There is also the question of cause and effect; people with an interest in so-called macabre, emo or ‘dark’ subjects may simply be drawn towards goth culture as it encourages or informs that interest. As the BBC puts it, ‘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.’
It is also possible that goths are simply more comfortable discussing depression, self-harm and vulnerability than their contemporaries. So while they report depression more widely, they are simply expressing something that many teenagers and young people experience.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.