Fight Teenage Depression Using Harry Potter Power

The world of Harry Potter has been used by an Oz psychologist to suggest ways of dealing with teenage depression in her new book.

Dr Julie-Anne Sykley's 'Harry Potter Power' aims to equip youngsters to cope with emotions such as anger, depression and grief.

Adolescent Depression - Causes - Affects - Depressed Teens - Treatment - FAQs
Adolescent depression is an ailment that occurs during the teenage characterized by persistent melancholy, disappointment and loss of self-esteem.

"I found there was a lot of special hidden material in the (Harry Potter) books and lots of empowering psychological messages that could help people," the Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying.

She added: "I sense young people really need some help and guidance to boost their resilience and help them make positive and empowering choices in their life."

Sykley, who is based in Cairns, cites the magical hippogriff creature in the Harry Potter series, written by J.K Rowling, as a symbol of hope in her work.

Depression - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.

Also, Dementors, the depressing spirits, are used to help teenagers develop strategies to prevent mental illness.

Sykley said: "It's a great way to introduce the concept of depression".

Depression Screening Test
Online Depression Screening Test tells if you have mild or chronic depression based on your depression symptoms. Learn how to deal with depression by using this self-assessment calculator.

She added that puzzles, games and secret messages have been used to keep depression, anger, anxiety and grief at bay for children reading the book.

Sykley's book is aimed at 12 year-olds and above.

Depression Calculator
A quick, simple and anonymous self-assessment health tool to assess the level of depression using the famous Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale.

The book published by Interactive Publications recently hit stores.

Source-ANI
RAS