Note to teachers: While every student can feel upset or irritable now and then (i.e. be distressed), depression is a far more intense feeling of sadness and hopelessness that lasts for weeks or longer and impairs a person’s ability to function. Many young people who experience depression do not express their thoughts, feelings and experiences publicly and instead may show a behavioural change such as the following:

• restlessness and agitation

• anger outbursts

• acting out

• withdrawing from social activities

• dropping grades

• frequent school absences

• substance use

• self-harm

According to the CBT frame, when people are suffering from depression, they often engage in negative thinking. In particular, they experience unrealistically negative or pessimistic thoughts about three things:

1. themselves

2. the world around them

3. the future

So, for example, youth who are depressed are more likely to conclude that they will not be any good at an activity, that people will not like them, or that they will never be able to get the job they want when school is over. What we say to ourselves can have a great deal of power, and people with depression struggle with negative self-talk. They may tell themselves that they are not good enough, that they are hopeless, and that nothing will ever get better. This self-talk, then, leads to further low moods and feelings of despair. As a result, destructive behaviours often follow, such as inactivity and social withdrawal.

The rest of the novel and curriculum will cover CBT concepts that are proven to help people overcome distress and mental disorders. But up to Chapter 5, the CBT concepts covered relate mainly to risk factors and manifestations of distress, anxiety and depression. This is an extremely useful introduction to CBT because it brings us to the first of seven core CBT principles the book relates:

CBT Core Principle #1

Knowing your stressors and symptoms is an important first step to overcoming distress

Most of us do not think about our stressors and negative emotions. We just react to them. Imagine a girl who gets a bad mark on an assignment in school one day, has a late basketball practice and has not eaten since lunch. She returns home, feels irritable and unhappy, snaps at her mother and cancels weekend plans with friends who did well on the assignment. She is in distress, but without CBT education, she may not be able to fully understand or articulate what is happening.

What if, however, she has read the first five chapters of the novel and has received this curriculum? She might realize that doing poorly in school, being hungry and feeling fatigued are risk factors which have resulted in her experiencing distress. With that knowledge she might correctly conclude that she needs to have something to eat, to rest and to avoid putting too much emphasis on one bad mark. If she does those things, she might also recognize that her friends are one of her protective factors and she should keep her plans.

How to arrive at that more helpful approach will be the focus of the book and this curriculum going forward. But it is important to notice the value of recognizing our individual risk (and protective) factors and how we experience distress.

J.K. Rowling/About the Author

Many readers of Harry Potter do not realize that the author, J.K. Rowling, has openly discussed her own journey and personal struggles with depression. The book series took 17 years to write, from start to finish, and Rowling has described these years as “grieving, grateful and emotionally exhausting.” Rowling’s own mother died only a few months after she began writing the first book and Rowling has said that the pain of losing her mother influenced how she wrote Harry’s story and how she depicted the impact of his parents’ death.

Rowling has described being clinically depressed. She accessed CBT to help her overcome her symptoms and to find a path to resilience: “The thing that made me go for help was probably my daughter. She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this isn’t right, this can’t be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state.” Rowling’s life story (and Harry’s) is one of resilience in the face of distress and a mental disorder. She created the dementors as a symbolic representation of her experiences of depression and Harry’s fight to master them is symbolic of her efforts to be resilient in the face of depression.

This last reaction, the reluctance to share his experiences and to seek help, sets up an important recurring theme in the book. In general, when Harry keeps his thoughts and feelings hidden, bad things happen. In contrast, when he shares and asks for help, good things happen. This is most often true in real life for people struggling with depression, anxiety, and distress.

One of the key messages of the book (and talk therapies like CBT) is that talking about your feelings is an appropriate and helpful response. Like being targeted by a dementor, struggling with depression is not a person’s fault. Yet people can feel embarrassed or worried about the perception of others. Sadly, as a result of the historical stigma attached to mental illness, people who are struggling with illnesses like depression often feel ashamed and alone. That is why Rowling’s message about help-seeking is so important. After all, it worked for her. Thankfully for Harry, Professor Lupin is happy to help and to support him following his encounter with the dementor. Professor Lupin, who will become a sort of CBT therapist to Harry throughout the book, talks with him and also offers him some chocolate for short term relief of symptoms (note: this is very similar to what often happens in psychiatric care where a short-term medicine works quickly to alleviate symptoms with therapy used to ensure and maintain long-term wellness). Lupin’s role in Harry’s treatment is foreshadowed by Madam Pomfrey’s assessment that he “knows his remedies”. Undeniably, Lupin is a trusted expert who will help Harry navigate his problem with the dementors as the story progresses.