J. K. Rowling British author J. K. Rowling created a terrifying set of characters in her bestselling Harry Potter series: “Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them” (Rowling, 1999). The effect of the fearsome dementors is a lot like the effect of major depressive disorder. In fact, Rowling admits that the dementors were based on her own experience with depression following several stressful life experiences. After her marriage ended while living abroad in Portugal, she moved back to the United Kingdom as a single parent with a young child. “I was definitely clinically depressed,” she later said, describing depression aptly: “It’s just all the color drained out of life really” (ABCNews, 2009).

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