Goth is ugly - in more ways than one

I have a friend who went from being a punk goth Kerry supporter to being a "normal" (jeans/polo/no black hair and makeup - my general sense of normalcy) Bush supporter. His reason? "I quit listening to bands and started looking at the issues."

In any event, I don't suppose this tells us anything we didn't know. That doesn't make it any less sad.

"Goth" youths more likely to self-harm: study

LONDON (Reuters) - Young people who adopt the "Goth" lifestyle of dark clothes and introspective music are more likely to commit self-harm or attempt suicide than other youngsters, according to a study on Friday.

"Although only fairly small numbers of young people identify themselves as belonging to the Goth subculture, rates of self-harm and attempted suicide are very high among this group," said Robert Young, lead researcher of the Glasgow University study.

The Scottish team described Goths as being a subgenre of Punk "with a dark and sinister aesthetic, with aficionados conspicuous by their range of distinctive clothing and makeup and tastes in music."

Shock rockers such as Marilyn Manson are said to be popular amongst Goths and the subculture has often attracted suspicion and criticism from the media.

Two U.S. students who massacred 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 were said to have been fascinated by the Goth image.
...
Although other subcultures were associated with self harm, such as Punk, the link was strongest with Goths.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that 53 percent of those who were linked to the Goth subculture reported self-harm and 47 percent had attempted suicide.

Even adjusting for other factors, such as alcohol abuse and previous depression, Goth identification was the strongest predictor of self harm or suicide attempts, the report said.

Sad.