Warning – I will be speaking about anxiety and fear for this specific post. 

 

Hello Everyone! 

          For this blog post, I will be talking about Boggarts and their connection to mental illness in our world. Here is a brief warning about the subject matter; I will be talking about anxiety and panic disorders in this blog post. If you aren’t comfortable reading about these subjects, please don’t worry about leaving. I hope you enjoy it!

          So, what is a Boggart? A Boggart is “a shape-shifting creature that will assume the form of whatever most frightens the person who encounters it” (J.K. Rowling).  According to Verywellmind, the symptoms of a panic or phobia-induced episode include dizziness, trembling, increased heart rate, breathlessness, and extreme fear. In the video below, we can see that the students show many of these symptoms, as well as being “frozen in fear”. This shows that the symptoms of being confronted with your greatest fear incarnate have the same effects in the wizarding world as they would in our world.

 Professor Lupin teaching the students the Ridikkulus spell.

          When you have a Panic attack or an Anxiety attack, you often feel like you can’t breathe, your heart is racing, and you’re shaking so much it feels like even your organs are shivering. This can make you feel like you’re dying, making you more anxious, causing your symptoms to be even worse and the cycle to continue on. Boggarts “seems to be generated and sustained by human emotions” (Rowling). By creating the fear that they feed on and generate from, they are only creating more of them.

          There are people who are more susceptible to Boggarts, “the more generally fearful a person is, the more susceptible they [are]” (Rowling).” Even non-magical people can “feel their presence and may even glimpse them”, Muggles (non-magical people) are capable of seeing them too, though they are usually convinced it was a trick of the light or a figment of their imagination (Rowling). This is partly true in our world as well, according to Ted Satterthwaite, a neuropsychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, “If you have one disorder, you’re much more likely to have another” (Michael Marshall). 

          Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like in its true form. All they know is, “if nobody is there to see it, although it continues to exist, usually giving evidence of its presence by rattling, shaking or scratching the object in which it is hiding” (Rowling). These sounds are similar to what we all imagine we are hearing when we’re home alone and scared of intruders, we hear bumps in the night. Boggarts are those bumps in the night, scaring you even when you can’t see them. 

          One way to overcome them is to “have company when facing a Boggart, as it will become confused deciding what shape to be” (Pottermore Wiki). A lesson that is applicable to true life. It is almost always easier to get through any anxiety you may have when you have friends to help you calm down and fight off the bad thoughts.

          There is another way to repel the Boggarts though. The spell is Ridikkulus (like ridiculous but fancy), “it involves making the creature into a figure of fun, so that fear can be dispelled in amusement” (Rowling). When the students are learning about it in their class their professor tells them that “The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind.  You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter.  What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing” (Rowling). I think that this is something incredibly important to remember. “Laughter is the best medicine” isn’t just an old adage. Laugher actually has numerous health, mental, and social benefits (helpguide). 

Laughter…

• Relaxes the whole body – It relieves physical tension and stress.
• Boosts the immune system – It decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and antibodies. 
• Triggers the release of endorphins – The body’s natural happy chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can temporarily relieve pain. 
• Protects the heart – Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, protecting you from cardiovascular problems. 
• Burns calories – One study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn about 40 calories. That is enough to lose 3-4 pounds a year from just laughing. 
• Can help you live longer – A Norwegian study found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much. It was particularly noticeable in people battling cancer. 

The mental health and social benefits include adding joy and zest to life, easing anxiety and tension, relieving stress, improving mood, strengthening resilience, strengthens relationships, attracts others to us, enhances teamwork, helps to defuse conflict, and promotes group conflict. This goes to show that laughter really can help to drive away the darkness in our lives.

          Thank you so much for reading my third blog post! With any luck, you learned something new today or looked at something through a new lens. I hope that was entertaining, insightful, and you weren’t bored!

 

 

 

Sources – 

“Boggart.” Pottermore Wiki, pottermore.fandom.com/wiki/Boggart.

Katharina Star, PhD. “The Differences Between Phobia and Panic Disorder.” Verywell Mind, 16 Aug. 2019, www.verywellmind.com/panic-disorder-versus-a-phobia-2584215. 

Marshall, Michael. “The Hidden Links between Mental Disorders.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 5 May 2020, www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00922-8. 

Robinson, Lawrence. “Laughter Is the Best Medicine.” HelpGuide.org, www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/laughter-is-the-best-medicine.htm. 

Rowling, J.K. “Boggart.” Wizarding World, Wizarding World Digital, 2 Oct. 2019, www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/boggart. 

Rowling, J.K., and DutchHPfan1992. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Remus Lupin’s ‘Boggart’ Class (HD).” Youtube, 14 May 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=doxxfXqpKYA.