Are Goths More Likely to Have Psychopathology?

One of the things I noticed in the teen groups at BMC and RCH, as well as the acute wards all the way from Indio to Riverside was an inordinate # of goth (a member of a subculture given to piercings, black clothing, died black hair, nihilistic intellectualism, anti-cultural comic books and very “dark” music) females typically ranging in age from 14 to about 25. Moreover, a high percentage of them were suffering from either sz or substance-induced psychosis.

"…self-identification as a goth is prospectively associated with emergence of clinical depression and self-harm in early adulthood. . . .

“Young people who self-identified as goths were more likely to be girls (contrasting with the findings from the original Young and colleagues’ study sample in Glasgow in which they were more likely to be boys), to have mothers with a history of depression, to have a history of emotional issues, including depression themselves, and to report issues with peers, including being bullied. Such vulnerability factors for depression suggest a degree of self-selection, with young people more susceptible to depression and self-harm being more likely to be attracted to the goth subculture. Yet, even after adjustment for these early risk factors, young people who self-identified as goths remained at an increased risk of depression and self-harm compared with those who did not identify with the subculture.”

See the entire research article at http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00164-9/fulltext

For some reason I imagine there would be quite a few Borderlines within the Goth population.

I don’t know, some of the best dark cut, rocker music is with the goth in mind. They seem to be all misery hipsters that love that type of stuff.

Ya what @daze said.

They’re not as blunt and without affect as we are. They enjoy their misery. Good insight. @Daze you are very intelligent.

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I think the prevalance is also higher among immigrants.

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Girl in my class the first day had me drawn in with her gothic-y look, but second class i realized she was just a normie like the rest of them. Kind of turned me off

That fits my experience. (And they are very often Level Three and Four BPD, meaning very self-harming, suicidal, hyper-dramatic, emotionally hyper-labile to the point of being bipolar, self-destructive substance abusers, sexual doormats, etc. Sigh.)

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Right there out of that Freddie Nietzsche mold.

I listen to dark music but you would never know by my external appearance. I use it to transmute uncomfortable feelings. It works great :slight_smile:

Uh I pretty much am one of those people on top of being scz.

I prefer the acidic people to basic ones.

Actually I’ve even been invited and went to a goth party the other winter

Wow , I would never have thought but I accept what your saying.

Goths for me are pretty honest , many I’ve met are pretty liberated.

Actually, quite a few Goths have nothing wrong with them. I am a part of the subculture and I have seen many goths who are perfectly healthy, mentally, emotionally and physically.

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I like Steampunks better… they are a tiny bit Goth… but they do smile and they invent some really odd stuff…