Hello there fellow potter heads! This is a special series on “Harry Potter and Therapy!” The Mirror of Erised reflects your wildest desires and dreams, in the same way, reading between the lines of Harry Potter provides us with a treasure trove of therapeutic and mental health ideas which throw light on issues like dealing with anxiety, depression, how exhausting it is to handle a mental illness, acceptance of self even though it is outside the norms and many more!a form of sexuality.
Homosexuality often made people the target of discrimination, harassment, and violence in the Muggle’s world. Witches and Wizards tended to be tolerant of or indifferent toward homosexuals. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Witchery was considered a "safe place" for LGBTQIA+ individuals.
The Harry Potter series also briefly portrays psychopathology. Following are some instances:
Several researches have predicted Harry experiencing severe PTSD after witnessing Cedric and Sirius’ passing. In ‘Order of the Phoenix’, Harry displayed self-isolation, had recurring nightmares and for the first time ever, had angry fits that he directed towards Ron and Hermione.
The most famous metaphor throughout the entire series is the ‘Dementors’. They represent Depression. Characters who face these Dementors (including Harry, it’s his biggest fear), describe dementors with a sense of doom, like they’ll never be happy again or have the will to fight for it. Hence, there’s an invisible link drawn between Dementors and Depression.
Here is a special analysis on body images and sexuality right off the scenes from Harry Potter!
Body image is the perception that a person has of his or her physical self and the thoughts and feelings that result from that perception. The body image of a character named Dudley in Harry Potter is portrayed negatively by mentioning him as a “big, beefy man with a large purple face, thick dark hair, with hardly a next visible and little mean eye”. He was often portrayed in an ugly manner when he was frustrated.
The experience of exclusive preference for others of the same sex is having sexual intimacy with individuals of the same sex. For example - The relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in Harry Potter was passionate and sexual in nature it was incredibly intense, and a love relationship describes a close idea is the Boggarts. Boggarts are shape-shifters who take the shapes of the beholder’s worst fears. While this is also intricately linked with PTSD and Depression, the idea of defending these Boggards, as Professor Lupin says “the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape you find amusing” points towards what cognitive psychology calls “Guided Imagery”.
A rather less explored topic is Professor Trelawney and her wild predictions about people’s early demise. Although only a few of her predictions come true, her process of predicting can be attributed to the human mind’s catastrophizing process - we tend to overthink, make frightening predictions, and “what-ifs” about everyday occurrences - although only a few of them come true.
We can see how the Harry Potter series has touched upon the aspects of body image, sexuality and psychopathology.