Insanity (Harry Potter)

Insanity, also known as madness, is a general term for certain abnormal behavioural patterns, typically associated with those suffering from mental illness. 
==Description==
Those suffering from insanity often could not interact with normal society, and frequently required long-term treatment in a medical facility such as St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Prolonged exposure to certain curses, such as the Cruciatus Curse or Imperius Curse, may have caused this condition. It could also be inflicted by certain types of potions, either temporarily or permanently, such as the Drink of Despair (Harry comments "Your brother drank a potion that drove him out of his mind.") and possibly Essence of Insanity. Listening to Fwooper song for a sufficiently long period could also cause insanity. Shock Spells may have been a treatment for this condition.
==History==
The portrait curse unleashed upon Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the 1988–1989 school year due to the Cursed Vaults, would turn students insane long after they remained trapped in portraits, the longer they existed outside of the real world.In July 1991, as Vernon Dursley wildly drove the Dursley family and Harry Potter to various locations in the hope of shaking off following wizards, Dudley Dursley ventured the suggestion that he had gone mad.In his earlier years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ronald Weasley, particularly in the early stages of their association, often claimed that Hermione Granger was insane because she was clever, read excessively and for pleasure, and retained information which was never of adequate interest for him to notice. - Chapter 12 (The Sorting Hat) He also once claimed she was mad for not initially realising how to combat Devil's Snare in the Underground Chambers with magic.Starting in the summer of 1995, the Daily Prophet, under pressure from the British Ministry of Magic, ran a smear campaign claiming, among other things, that Harry Potter's assertion that Lord Voldemort had returned was a sign that he had gone insane, which only ended when Voldemort's return was proven following the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. Albus Dumbledore, who was also a prime factor in an attempt to spread Harry's claim, was also considered insane for the duration. When Harry gave an interview to Rita Skeeter regarding these events on Valentine's Day 1996, he wondered how people would react to it, suspecting that for many people it would simply confirm that he was completely insane, "not least because his story would be appearing alongside utter rubbish about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."Peeves made this claim of Remus Lupin with a tune to match. "Lupin! Loony, loony, Lupin!"Insanity commonly affect one's perception on reality, making them believe in things that do not exist. As such, Truth Serums may be diluted in effects when used on such individuals, as what they believe to be the truth may be fabricated. For this reason, Cornelius Fudge chose not to believe Bartemius Crouch Junior's testimony under the Veritaserum, believing the man's insanity to be affecting the words coming out of his mouth. It was also for this reason he refused to believe Harry's claim that Voldemort has returned, as Skeeter made Harry seem to have moments of insanity.Sometime in 2020, a member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force visited St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries to see for themselves the medical impact of the Calamity, and discovered that repeated experiences of becoming a Foundable could drive the victim mad. (Calamity Essentials I: MISSION TO ST. MUNGO'S)
==Known insane individuals==
*Ekrizdis, the Dark wizard who constructed Azkaban, was believed to have been insane.
*According to Albus Dumbledore, people had been driven to insanity attempting to realise the visions provided by the Mirror of Erised.
*Morfin Gaunt had much mental instability due to his family's practice of inbreeding, leading to violent outbursts periodically. Coupled with losing the family's signet ring to his nephew, Morfin lost his sanity, and he kept muttering, the only words for the remainder of his life, how his father would kill him for losing the last heirloom (despite knowing his father already passed away years ago).
*According to Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, many Azkaban prisoners were driven insane from just a few weeks of exposure to the Dementors' negative influence, talking and screaming in their sleep, and some even stopped eating and chose death.
*According to Yusuf Kama, the death of his mother Laurena in childbirth as a result of her abduction and rape by Corvus Lestrange (IV) caused his father Mustafa to go insane from grief.
*As Uric the Oddball was known to have listened to the Fwooper's song for several months non-stop, as well as to have engaged in various eccentric behaviours, he was most likely insane. Also the look on his face and his jellyfish-hat lead to this belief.
*According to legend, Snickerton became insane following an attempt to have rival tailor Delfina Crimp arrested for being a witch. He found himself unable to make clothing without it being torn to shreds, and held the delusion that he was being stalked by a giant pair of invisible scissors, though it is more likely that Crimp followed him throughout his life and shredded his clothing with her Severing Charm. - Chapter 4, Part 1
*Frank and Alice Longbottom were driven insane due to prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus Curse by Bartemius Crouch Jnr and the Lestranges. They were permanent residents of the Janus Thickey Ward of St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, and no longer seemed to recognise their son.
*An old Muggle tramp Harry Potter saw when shopping with the Dursleys apparently was insane, as he was talking to a person who was not there.
*Bartemius Crouch Snr became insane after continual usage of the Imperius Curse on him by Lord Voldemort. When Harry Potter and Viktor Krum found him on the edge of the Forbidden Forest in 1995, he wildly shifted back and forth between coherence and statements to his surroundings, and believed it was several months earlier and he was dictating instructions to his assistant, Percy Weasley.
*Bartemius Crouch Jnr was considered insane by Cornelius Fudge, and therefore his testimony was not deemed credible. Though his confession was true, Crouch demonstrated his instability with his deranged look throughout his interrogation, and Harry proclaimed him mad for showing glee at killing his father.
*Having drank the Drink of Despair, Kreacher, Regulus Black and Albus Dumbledore all became tortured by hallucinations of their worst fears, driving them temporarily insane.
*Broderick Bode was bewitched to steal the prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney regarding Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, but only those about whom a prophecy was made could remove it from its shelf in the Hall of Prophecy without suffering madness. Nevertheless, Bode's madness was apparently temporary and he apparently would have recovered had he not been assassinated by Devil's Snare disguised as a Flitterbloom to prevent him from revealing what he knew.
*It appeared Gilderoy Lockhart went insane after becoming amnesiac from his backfired Memory Charm, as he was shown wearing a straitjacket and looking madden while humming to himself in the front cover of his final book, Who Am I?. - Chapter 37 (End Credits)
*Herbert Chorley was a Muggle politician and a Minister in the British government, who in 1996, was subjected to a poorly done Imperius Curse by a Death Eater, which subsequently caused him to go insane, with him acting like a duck and was placed in St Mungos for treatment. It is unknown if he recovered.
*The Crazed Capybara of South America was known to become crazed when angered.
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Category:Ailments
Category:Psychology