I don't have anything against "emos" in general, but I have a problem with how it affects the views of depression. First off, if you're depressed the "emo" lifestyle might seem comforting at first (aww you're not the only one who feels that way) but it doesn't help in the long run - get real help. Hang out with positive people that help YOU, and don't rely on pills to help you forever - most are designed to help while the teenage hormones settle, but they don't change the way you think/react/behave longterm. Some you build resistances too, and then what? If you have a self-destructive way of thinking (mostly negative, self-hating) then all the pills in the world won't change that. You have to. You have to find a new way of thinking. That is so hard because there is basic/general advice for that, but nothing tailored exactly to you. Depression is a long, hard road with very little easy fixes.

That said its tough to describe "real" depression. Depression, moderate to severe is mostly associated with chemical-misfiring, or bad wiring, in the brain. It's a deeper, more complicated form of sadness - it isn't a choice, it just hits you and you can't do anything about it. All the cute puppies in the world won't ease that cold, numb pain inside. You feel disconnected, disjointed, hard to concentrate and it can really kill your social life, make it hard to even have one. Its ok to be sad, its ok to be at times depressed, life is hard. But claiming you have depression after your dog dies is abit much. Yes its sad, yes you need to grieve, but unless you're still feeling that way years after without a change, then you don't have depression.

What annoys me is that adults are viewing the "emo" lifestyle/trend/fashion as a new face of depression. (and in some cases it is) but that only means they ignore the deeper problems within some of those people. They assume your real depression is apart of this new, temporary identity. Teenage years are hard, long and tumultuous. During recent decades trends and cliques have popped up because teens find it helps them establish identities and deal with the stress of it.

But on the whole, it just makes parents shake their heads and sigh, some assume depression is just a phase called "emo". It just takes away the focus from it, takes away the seriousness of depression by giving it fluff.

What is very sad is that depression is very misunderstood, and those with severe depression have little in the way of real help and solid treatments. Severe usually means BEYOND the help of drugs. What do those people have? a few, dangerous, highly experimental procedures designed to zap/augment parts of the brain. (Leaving some nasty long & short term effects, because we still don't know exactly how the brain works) One problems is when people think of depression, they envision some goth or emo kids, not adults too depressed to eat, moping like a ghost in their house. Its just mis-association. and it hurts, because people just think its teens who will get over it, not people who are really, really, really hurting, and cannot stop hurting. Depression is something you cannot control.