Depression and Harry in OotP

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 110717

Shaun wrote :
"I was perfectly capable of pleasure. I sought it out. And I found 
it. But *unless* I was actively enjoying myself, I rapidly slid into
depression. And that's what I see in Harry. His 'default setting'
seems depressed to me."

Del replies :
I guess we just don't see Harry the same way, because I don't see that
his defaut setting has changed from the previous books. In my eyes, he
has only added an alternative setting : anger. But when he's neither
angry nor happy nor anything special, I just don't see that he's
depressed. At least, no more than he was before OoP. Now if someone
wants to make a case that Harry's been suffering from a sort of mild
depression right from PS/SS, that's another thing entirely and I might
agree.

Shaun wrote :
" in a minority of cases, the symptom of depression can actually be
the reverse of the norm. While many depressives give up on food to an
extent, for others it becomes a comfort."

Del replies :
I happen to know that very well from personal experience. It's even a
warning sign between my husband and me : when I start eating too much
junk food, that's a sure sign that depression is coming back. Quite
often my husband will notice it before me !

But Harry doesn't seem to have any food-related problem of any kind.
He doesn't starve himself, but he doesn't stuff himself either. He
enjoys eating, but he always did and that's healthy. He has no problem
skipping meals if he needs time to study, he doesn't look for
opportunities to nick food from the kitchens, or whatever. If anyone
has a food problem in the Trio, it's Ron : he's got an unhealthy love
for sweets, and he never skips (and even actively looks for)
opportunities to stuff himself. 

Shaun wrote :
" being aware of your accomplishments may very easily be a defence
mechanism to the feelings of guilt, or worthlessness, or low
self-esteem that are common (though not universal) in depression. The
mind tries to fight depression in many cases, consciously and
unconsciously. If you're feeling low, you do often bring memories of
past achievements to the fore. And they can help."

Del replies :
I understand that. But the thing is, Harry seems to have a healthy
understanding of his accomplishments : he knows he's done great things
(and gets upset when people seem to overlook that), but he's also
aware that he's no superhero, and he gets upset when Ron and Hermione
seem to see more in what he did than he himself does. Harry is pretty
good as identifying what is his doing or not, in good things as in bad
things : he knows he's beaten LV at the graveyard, but he also knows
that he couldn't have done it without the help he received, and he
also knows he could not have saved Cedric no matter what. He's not
feeling either overly proud nor overly guilty. Doesn't sound like
depression to me.

Shaun wrote, about the inability to concentrate :
"I suppose Binns' classes don't count (-8

But again, not universal. I often became hyperfocused when I was most
depressed, rather than losing the ability to concentrate."

Del replies :
Well, if Binns's classes count, I guess pretty much every student in
Harry's class is depressed, except for Hermione :-)

As for hyperfocus, we don't see much of that either, except in the
situations that require it.

I, Del, wrote :
" "Thoughts of death and suicide."
 
I can't remember. Maybe it happened a few times, but it's nowhere as
bad as it should get to be a symptom of depression. "

Shaun answered :
"I can't remember either - but seriously, *any* though of suicide in 
a teen is a potential symptom of depression to be taken very seriously
if there are any other clear symptoms. By itself, the occasional
thought probably isn't a big deal - but if there's anything else going
on, it very well may be."

Del replies :
I agree that even an occasional thought of suicide is dangerous in a
teenager. But neither of us seems to remember even a single time when
it happened. The *only* time I can remember is when LV is possessing
Harry in the MoM, and I wouldn't take it as a sign of depression.

Shaun wrote :
" And anger and frustration are common symptoms of depression -
*especially* in teenage boys who have very few other socially
acceptable ways of expressing depressed feelings."

Del replies :
You've got a point there. But still I'm not sure this anger can be
taken as a sure sign of depression. I would take this anger for just
what it is : anger and frustration at being called a liar and not
being able to defend himself. Anyone would be angry in his situation,
without any need to call in depression.

Shaun wrote :
"Honestly... considering what Harry saw at the end of Goblet of Fire,
and the lack of opportunity he's had to process it (except for that
one brief period with Molly Weasley at the end of Goblet of Fire - one
of my favourite scenes in all the novels, because I know what
experiences like that can do to you if you don't have that chance to
let it out), I'd be quite surprised if he doesn't have a measure of
depression - considering he does have frustration and anger, anyway."

Del replies :
As I said in another post, I was *expecting* Harry to experience some
kind of depression at the end of GoF. But when I started OoP, I saw
that JKR didn't seem to be taking him in that direction. I was
actually quite surprised at how *little* he seemed to be feeling bad
when awake. He's angry and frustrated, sure, and he even goes into an
alternating pattern of overdrive and stupor after the Dementor attack,
but he never seems to dwell on Cedric's death or on anything else.
He's looking *forward*, he's in a *positive* mood concerning the war,
he has a healthy dose of self-esteem, he's sure of his capacities, and
so on. That was confusing to me at first, especially considering that
we are told that he's got nightmares about the graveyard almost every
night. And then I understood that the answer might be precisely that :
his brain is processing the events at night, so Harry doesn't have to
process them during the day. After all, we're talking about a boy who
showed almost no sign of dysfunction after being abused for 10 years !
It's not such a strech to assume that he must have a very effective
built-in coping mechanism.

Del