Why does a rat get depressed? Because it’s a rat. They smell and nobody likes them. There, I just saved you from suffering through the rest of this article. For those that want to tough it out, though, there is actually scientific reasoning behind this rodent dilemma. Here are five depressing reasons rats get so sad.
1. THEY’RE POOR
Yes, it turns out that rats don’t like being poor either. Studies show that rodents, just like the people they torture, show depressive symptoms from living in low-income neighborhoods. The study was done in Baltimore, Maryland, so you know they are experts on the subject.
2. THEY’RE UNWANTED
In an ever flowing circle, these depressed rats who live in depressed areas are both the cause and result of their sadness. People hate rats and that hatred is linked to depression in humans. This depression causes them to live in low-income neighborhoods that attract the rodents. The rodents have no choice but to live in squalor so they too are depressed, thus completing the cycle.
3. THEY’RE DISEASE SPONGES
You’d be depressed too if you were sick all the time. Rats are disease magnets. They attract all forms of nasty viruses that they then give off to their surroundings. So, not only are they sick, but they get everything around them sick. This goes back to the point in number two with them being unwanted. Maybe if they got some treatment, they wouldn’t be so sad all the time.
4. HUMANS ARE DIRTY
Did anyone ever think that maybe rats don’t like trash? They only eat it because it’s around. At the moment, Baltimore is trying to reduce its trash problem which will hopefully reduce the rat problem. Maybe this is the push the rodents need to get clean. Pick up your trash and let the little guys find their own source of food. Just like how eating junk food causes depression, surely garbage can’t be much better. Humans are enabling trash addiction for rodents and it has to end. Rat lives matter.
5. THEY’RE USED FOR EXPERIMENT
Any rat that gets picked up for lab tests can not be happy. The whole point of these experiments is to put them through horrible situations that are deemed too painful for humans. As a result, a rat always has to watch its back on the streets and in the labs. This anxiety leads to severe depression in the rodent and a life of fear.
