what defines a goth, from say, someone who is just depressed?

Question

i'm just trying to figure where i fit in, so to speak, hehe.

i wear black clothing mostly, steel capped boots, my hair is usually all shaved off, but i don't wear eyeliner or black nail varnish.

films-wise, i like anything by tim burton, action films, witch/magic/occult/sect based horror films, romantic comedies.

music wise, i'm into nine inch nails, rammstein, some early cure tracks, early pink floyd(pre, and post barrett), recently got into siouxsie and the banshees, most 1980s hard rock and i like any death metal

i also suffer from depression alot

i was also wondering if any, goths/punks see any similarities

Answer 1

Goths define themselves as goths. If you chose to wear all black clothes, paint your nails and eyes black and listen to the cure then you're a goth. If you sit around the house drinking yourself into the ground lamenting the woman who left or the job that you lost....you're depressed. Most of it is teenage (or early 20s) angst. How many 40 or 50 year goths do you see?

Answer 2

I know Goths and they luv depressing stuff, which seems to keep them happy rather than sad, they seem to like to hit out at the world cos they are angry, one likes the attention he receives and says he luvs phsyical pain, on the outside you probably look like a goth, some I think like to be goths because they feel part of a community, although I disagree that they are unique as they all tend to want to dress similarily and listen to the same types of music etc. If you happen to like all the steroetypical things associated with gothism then you can class yourself as one, however don't be fooled into believing all goths are depressed, for some they think its cool or the latest fad/fashion trend. Just be true to yourself, if you wanna class yourself as a goth then you may do so, this is just what I have learned from my own experiences of having friends who are goths, I will use this opportunity to say that even though I am the complete opposite, I wear brightly coloured clothes etc, I get on with my goth friends well, they aren't bad or scary individuals, the majority anyway, looks tend to be deceiving!

Answer 3

Funny thing is - I like most of the same things you like (and I'm a 50 year old woman). I have been diagnosed bipolar, but keep it under control with medication. I think goth has to do more with a chosen lifestyle - which you have done. Depression basically is not a choice, but I have found it basically paralyzes you and makes you not care how you dress, look, act,etc.

Enjoy your life and your choices.

Answer 4

A family member is a goth. He has been diagnosed as bi-polar. Most of the people we see with him seem very miserable & down in the dumps.
The make up is both a physical & psychological mask, used in order to get around the deep feelings of inadequacy. Of course its also a 'tribal' marking done by people who all see themselves as individuals yet are all, virtually, the same.

Answer 5

You are doing what I was doing 23 years ago!
Funny that, I thought it was just teenage angst apart from the fantastic music of course.
Have you heard 'the cult' album - Love? Awesome.

You could be a depressed goth with taste, ever thought of that?

Answer 6

Personally...I view Goth as a form of artistic expression & never equated it with depression. I have depression & like a lot of the things you mentioned but...I also know a lot of other folks with depression who don't.

Answer 7

As best I can make out, people who are only depressed make at least some effort to alleviate their problem. People who are Goth, on the other hand, do everything they can to exacerbate theirs.

Answer 8

Could it be to do with all the black clothing your wearing, its such a depressing colour and can make the brightest persons mood glum, I accept you have your own tastes but try to branch out into a brighter colour and see what difference it makes to your mood.

Answer 9

im in the same boat as you


EXACT same

i dont beleive in lables...wanna know what you are??
your you

im me

im amber

thats it

im not like anyone else wether people want to throw me into a group is their stupidity and what not

Answer 10

You must be a descendant of a German ancestry. Your time has not come yet, go to sleep.