German toymaker makes cuddly animals with mental health issues

A German toymaker is selling a range of soft toys, each of which has their own psychiatric disorder. The toys range from Dub, a turtle who suffers depression, to Kroko, a crocodile with an acute phobia of water, as well as an hallucinating snake called Sly and a sheep called Dolly who has a personality disorder.

The toys are made by 36-year-old Martin Kittsteiner, of Hamburg, who says: '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.'

He added: '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.'

'I think some adults see it as a form of therapy for themselves.'

The cuddly toys are sold from the parapluesch.de website - styling itself the Psychiatric Institute for Abused Cuddly Toys - where customers can also play an online game as a doctor trying to diagnose the toys' problems.


/Metro.co.uk/