Many people think it would be cool to be a demigod, but Percy Jackson can tell you otherwise. Percy Jackson is a character who is a demigod. Rather than being a hero and saving everything, trouble seems to find Percy instead. Percy would have a better life if he knew how to keep his anger at bay, found out the advantages of ADHD, and learned how to block out negative thoughts.

If Percy knew how to control his anger, he would have better relationships. “But I was so mad my mind went blank.” He says on page 9. Also, on page 53, he says “Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs – the same rush of energy I’d got when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.” This shows that whenever Percy gets very angry, he loses control of his emotions easily. This usually causes someone to get hurt, or to get himself in trouble. In the article by the APA, Dr. Spielberger notes the fact that, “The three main approaches are expressing, suppressing, and calming.”. He also says that “When none of these three techniques work, that’s when someone—or something—is going to get hurt.”. Many people can get hurt after someone’s anger gets out of control. Percy should also be very careful because the results of a study in 2000 which they watched 411 adolescents that showed the teenagers always expressing their anger have reported drinking more alcohol, being less active, and smoking cigarettes. This might happen to Percy if he doesn’t learn to control his anger.

Next, Percy doesn’t know that there are advantages to having ADHD. In Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, on page 1, Percy says, “Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that.” Whenever Percy struggles with his ADHD he always thinks it is a bad thing. Percy believes that he is a very troubled kid and that his ADHD along with his other problems are bad and can’t help him. In the article by Karen Gibson, she states that “Differences in the brain are common. So we should try to understand them.” Many scientists and experts have found ways that ADHD can help the children succeed. The ADHD children can focus on many different things at once, and this can be very helpful. ADHD can really help Percy; he just doesn’t know that yet.

Percy will be better at learning once he learns to block negative thoughts. In page 18 of Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, he says “The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the ????????? ????? ?? ????? ????????? across my dorm room.” Whenever Percy tries to learn, he always gets frustrated which causes him trouble with studying.  In the article by Kelly Roell, she states that “Negative thoughts make studying all but impossible. If you find yourself frequently repeating self-defeating thoughts, try reframing them into more positive statements:” which then she shows ways to convert negative thoughts into positive and boosting thoughts. If Percy doesn’t learn to block out his frustrations and anger, he will struggle with learning new things. Blocking out negative thoughts can help Percy, so he can learn better.

While Percy looks like an average middle schooler, he also struggles with all the trouble that comes after him because he is a demigod. To live a better life, Percy needs to know how to keep control of his anger, acknowledge the benefits of ADHD, and learn how to ignore all the negative thoughts. This advice can help fictional and non-fictional people that struggle with any of these problems.

Citations: www.apa.org/topics/anger/control

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3019061/

newsela.com/read/elem-new-ways-to-think-about-ADHD/id/41696/

https://www.thoughtco.com/steps-to-focus-on-studying-3212069