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J.K. Rowling revealed that she had suffered with depression prior to her success with Harry Potter. After separating from her first husband, Jorge Arantes, she admitted that she considered suicide. Rowling told Adeel Amini:

“We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable.’ Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted.”

Rowling had to lean on her friends to help her pay the security deposit to rent an apartment which is where she began writing the Harry Potter series.

The Telegraph reported Rowling also 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 isn’t right, this can’t be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state.”

Rowling urges people to get help, attempting to remove any stigma attached to seeking therapy:

“The funny thing is, I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. I think I’m abnormally shameless on that account because what’s to be ashamed of?”

It’s great that she doesn’t mind speaking out about her struggle with depression. With the economy on a downward spiral, we’re going to see the need for counseling on the rise.

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