Quick to define Harry as "clinically depressed"?

[Cindy]

No: HPFGUIDX 110889

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <b_boymn at y...> wrote:
> In Harry's case, using the beginning of OotP as an example, people 
are
>  stunned that Harry is so angry and depressed, but given his life,
> everything that has happened to him, depression and anger seem
> perfectly normal responses to me.
> 
> You may all ask, how can Harry be so depressed and angry, and I must
> ask with equal or more fervor, how can he NOT?
>> Steve/b_boymn

*******************************************************

Yes, I too have heard people wonder why Harry is so angry in book 5, 
and I am just astounded that they could even wonder about that.  
Maybe it is because I, myself, am so familiar with depression, and 
childhood trauma in a way eerily similar to Harry's; so much so that 
I can identify with him.  Anger was a big part of *my* teenage years, 
because I was reacting against my helplessness in my younger years. 
It was a matter of survival - fight back or be a victim.  Couple that 
with Harry's far more (than mine) traumatic events in books 1-4 and 
it is no wonder that he is so angry and self-absorbed in book 5.  I 
totally understand where he is coming from.

It is extremely difficult to explain depression to people who have 
never experienced it.  They may intellectualize it, but they will 
never, ever know what it is truly like.  It manifests itself in 
different ways in different people.  True clinical depression is the 
result of a chemical imbalance in the brain, and rarely can it 
be treated successfully without medication.  Like a diabetic's 
pancreas needs insulin, a depressed person's brain needs the missing 
chemical.

Harry may or may not be chronically depressed; we just don't really 
know. However, my feeling is that he suffers from depression, my 
opinion - only because I can relate to his reactions.

Cindy