Rowling, 42, said she was prescribed cognitive behavioural therapy after suffering from “suicidal thoughts” in the aftermath of separation from her first husband, Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese journalist.
At that time, her economic condition was weak as she could only afford to pay the rent of flat in Edinburgh where Rowling resided with her baby daughter Jessica. “Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted,” she said. “The thing that made me go for help was probably my daughter. She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this can’t be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state,” the author said.
Birth of Potter
It was there she began writing the first Harry Potter book, becoming one of the world’s richest women, with a fortune worth 545 million pounds.
She has spoken before of her depression, but it is the first time Rowling has admitted that she contemplated suicide.
The author thanked her General Practitioner (GP) saying the doctor “absolutely saved” her. Rowling said she was happy to discuss her mental problems to challenge the stigma associated with depressive illness. “I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never,” she said.
Psychologists say depression is a common disease among very creative people. Hunter S Thompson and Ernest Hemingway are some famous writers who committed suicide. A suicidal tendency among “excellent writers” is a tragic thing that the public often tend to glorify.