Chapter Discussions Retitiled - Depression

[Melinda Leydon]

No: HPFGUIDX 69396

> > he looks pinched and unhealthy, his jeans are dirty and the soles
> > of his trainers flapping.
> >
> > Is this a choice of Harry's? Previously his clothes have been
> > secondhand and too big for him, but there was no mention of their
> > being worn out or dirty.
> 
> Possibly, in a sense. I think I'd interpret it as a symptom of
> depression, actually. We do find out later that he's been having
> nightmares about Cedric all summer, and we know he's worried about
> V. being back. I think he is probably going through a depression
> caused by the traumatic events at the end of GoF, by V.'s return,
> by not hearing any news from R. and H. and finally on top of all of
> that by the Dursley's continuing mistreatment of him.

DEL said:

I'm afraid I have to disagree with that. Harry's symptoms are not
those of a depression. Stress, yes, anger and anxiousness, for sure,
but not depression.
So why is he dressed that way ? 2 reasons in my opinion :
1. He's angry, and he wants to show it in the way he dresses. He's
angry at his uncle and aunt, so he wants to annoy them by the way he
dresses.
2. I guess the pool of clothes to choose from has reduced and their
quality has gotten worse because Dudley is a teenager now. When he
was a little boy, I guess his mom could buy him new clothes all the
time, so his clothes were still in pretty good shape when Harry got
them. But Dudley is a teenager now, he probably has a few favourite
clothes that he doesn't want to part with. I mean, he's wearing a
leather jacket in the middle of an extremely hot summer ! So he
probably wears his clothes until his mom gets into a fit and forces
him to abandon them.

Now ME: 

I moved this out of the Chapter Discussions cuz I wanted to ask about
something not in Chapter 1 that really struck me.  It struck me as classic
signs of depression, something I've never seen in Harry before.  After the
Dementor attack, when he's locked in his room waiting for news from Ron,
Hermione, or Sirius, he was there for four days

(US edition, pg.44)
Harry was filled alternately with restless energy that made him unable to
settle to anything, during which he paced his bedroom again, furious at the
whole lot of them for leaving him to stew in this mess, and with a lethargy
so complete that he could lie on his bed for an hour at a time, staring
dazedly into space, aching with dread at the thought of the Ministry
hearing.
SNIP
On the fourth night after Hedwig's departure Harry was lying in one of his
apathetic phases, staring at the ceiling, his exhausted mind quite blan

SNIP
He could not even summon the energy to get up and turn on his bedroom light.
SNIP
He felt very conscious of the fact that he had no combed his hair for four
days.

These thigs all were screaming to me of classic signs of a depression and I
was kind of troubled by it.  I know JKR herself has battled this so I was
wondering if that is where she was going with him for a while.

Melinda