© Gesine Born

08. 09. 10. - 15:00

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08. 09. 10. - 15:00

Toy Gory

Toymaker Martin Kittsteiner is hoping children will go potty for his new invention - a family of soft toys who all have psychiatric illnesses.

The toys - suffering from everything from bipolar disorder to acute depression - come with their own medical history, a referral letter and a treatment plan.

"It started as a bit of a joke with my girlfriend who has lots of soft toys and then we thought there could be something in the idea," explained Martin, 36, of Hamburg, Germany.

"Children and grown ups like their vulnerability and find something in them that gives them a great sense of comfort in helping to heal them," he added.

Patients include Dub the turtle with severe depression, Sly the snake who suffers from terrifying hallucinations, Dolly the sheep with a personality disorder and a crocodile which has an irrational terror of water.

Martin - whose company Paraplush sells the dolls for 25 GBP each from his website www.parapluesch.de (correct) - added: "I think some adults see it as a form of therapy for themselves."

German Herald

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