I contemplated suicide, says Harry Potter creator, JK Rowling
Stuart MacDonald
The Sunday Times
March 23, 2008
JK Rowling has revealed that she thought of killing herself while suffering from depression as a struggling single mother.
The Harry Potter author says she was prescribed cognitive behavioural therapy after suffering “suicidal thoughts” in the aftermath of separation from her first husband, Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese journalist.
She is now one of the world’s richest women, with a fortune estimated at £545m, but at the time lived in a cramped flat in Edinburgh with her baby daughter Jessica. Rowling was only able to afford the rent after a friend paid the £600 deposit. It was there she began writing the first Harry Potter book.
While Rowling, 42, has spoken before of her battle with depression, it is the first time she has admitted that she contemplated suicide. She said she finally sought professional help.
“Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted,” said Rowling. “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 said her usual GP was away, and the replacement doctor sent her away. “She said, ‘If you ever feel a bit low, come and speak to the practice nurse’ and dismissed me.”
Rowling added: “We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable’.
Two weeks later I had a phone call from my regular GP who had looked back over the notes . . . She called me back in and I got counselling through her.
“She absolutely saved me because I don’t think I would have had the guts to go and do it twice.”
Cognitive behavioural therapy typically involves a series of sessions with a counsellor and is designed to help patients control negative thoughts. The technique is recommended by the health department for depressive disorders, anxiety, bulimia and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Rowling, whose Harry Potter novels have sold more than 400m copies worldwide and spawned a £7 billion industry, said she was happy to discuss her mental health problems to challenge the stigma associated with depressive illness.
“I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never,” she said in an interview with Adeel Amini, 22, for a student magazine at Edinburgh University.
“What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that.”
Mental health campaigners welcomed Rowling’s decision to speak publicly about her struggle with suicidal depression.
Celia Richardson, campaigns director of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “JK Rowling is a wonderful role model and it’s brilliant she has chosen to talk about this.”
JK Rowling tells of suicidal thoughts Monday, 24th March 2008
HARRY POTTER author JK Rowling has revealed she considered taking her own life.
As a struggling single mum in a Leith flat, before she had completed her first Harry Potter book, she admitted she had "suicidal thoughts" and that it was her daughter Jessica that stopped her doing it.
In an interview with a student magazine, the Edinburgh writer reflected on her life as a struggling author following the break-up of her first marriage. She said: "Mid-20s life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted.
"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, she cannot grow up with me in this state.
"We're talking suicidal thoughts here, we're not talking 'I'm a little bit miserable'. What's to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that."
At her lowest ebb she contacted her GP only to find she was on holiday and a replacement was at the surgery.
The new doctor recommended she was referred for cognitive behavioural therapy which teaches the sufferer to combat negative thoughts.
She credits that treatment with helping her get out the rut.
She said: "It (the treatment) was absolutely invaluable. It worked for me so I'm obviously very 'pro' it."
The full article contains 234 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
Last Updated: 24 March 2008 10:37 AM
For the article online click here
I know for a fact a lot of you have faced depression (because you told me). How does it feel knowing that JKR faced it, as well, and overcame the worst parts of it? _________________
^courtesy of ravvy
BERY!
I think it's nice to know that one of the world's most famous persons, has felt the same way that I do. Or.. not nice that she had depression, but that fact that she had the guts to seek professional help, and managed to get out of it. It takes a lot of will and strength to go through it, but she came out.
At least to me, she's an inspiration without borders! Knowing her history, and where she is today, it's just amazing!
And not to mention the Harry Potter series, witch really is the only thing that can bring me up, when I'm down.
i am so glad she came out of it... everyone atleast once goes through it...
i went into depression after my break up ..and i know it was tough..i left my hometown.. and came over to a place where no one knew me.. and i got myself too busy by going to spanish classes.. salsa and guitar classes... and also radio managemnt lessons...
i can understand her well..
but im so glad she came out of it.. not just because she is THE J.K.ROWLING.. but also because she was a mother.. and if she would have taken a wrong step...
her daugher's life would have been ruined...!!!! _________________
Name: Ruchika Pal
House: Gryffindor
Blood status: Half Blood
Wand :11", Holly, Unicorn
Patronous: Wolf
Gryffindor Quidditch Team Cheerleader
I'm not sure if I ws really ever depressed, maybe a little down but never something serious.
I hope JKR encourages more people to go seek professional help.
I've personally seen people who seemingly had it all commit suicide because they were strangely enough depressed.
So if you have a problem, go seek help.
^^ thats so true .. because you do it.. you wont even have the chance to regret....
sucide is just not the solution or the only option...
im too much against this practice... _________________
Name: Ruchika Pal
House: Gryffindor
Blood status: Half Blood
Wand :11", Holly, Unicorn
Patronous: Wolf
Gryffindor Quidditch Team Cheerleader
somehow, im not surprissed at this news, she wrote harry's depression too well to have no idea about it herself
depression really sucks, im glad she could get out of it to reach this point where she is happy and well, it's a great achievement
and i also admire her courage, fighting the depression for her daughter, other mothers wouldnt be that strong _________________
bella=cute jorge=luv ashy=cool tashy=weirdo ginnyx=pottergeek
somehow, im not surprissed at this news, she wrote harry's depression too well to have no idea about it herself
Not to mention the dementors... they make you feel terrible, suck your soul.. and the only thing that helps is to think of happy thoughts, which produce an animal-shaped protector in a glowing light. And chocolate.
bery26 wrote:
and i also admire her courage, fighting the depression for her daughter, other mothers wouldnt be that strong
Right, some mothers wouldn't be so strong, like Merope, who was so broken hearted she gave up on life. _________________
^courtesy of ravvy
BERY!
Right, some mothers wouldn't be so strong, like Merope, who was so broken hearted she gave up on life.
lol i had thought of the very same thing when i wrote that
and yes i was forgetting the dementors, but didnt that idea came after her mother's death?? _________________
bella=cute jorge=luv ashy=cool tashy=weirdo ginnyx=pottergeek
Right, some mothers wouldn't be so strong, like Merope, who was so broken hearted she gave up on life.
lol i had thought of the very same thing when i wrote that
and yes i was forgetting the dementors, but didnt that idea came after her mother's death??
I'm not sure, but I know she specifically had depression in mind when she thought of dementors...
Here is an excerpt from another article from a few years ago...
Spoiler:
Quote:
"Out of adversity, Harry was born," Martin, Sandra.
The Globe Review (Toronto)
23 October 2000
What she loves about Harry as a hero is his vulnerability and his belief in hope. That is what makes him so susceptible to the Dementors, vile creatures that suck hope out of the mouths of their victims. Rowling created the Dementors to symbolize depression, the malaise that nearly toppled her half a dozen years ago.
"I don't mean feeling sad," she says. "That is a normal, healthy emotion. Depression is losing the ability to feel certain emotions and one of them is hope."
For her daughter's sake, she sought counselling. "She was my touchstone. If it hadn't been for her, I probably would never have had the courage to go to the doctor and say I needed to talk about things."
I'm not really surprised about this news, either. Every one is always talking about how charming it is that she wrote the first novel in a cafe as a broke mother, but that thought makes me feel desperately hopeless and lonely.
This is the best thing about Jo for me. She knows what it's like to be poor . . . not just in debt, but seriously poor. It's a hard situation to be in. She understands that. _________________ What luck for ruler that men do not think. ~ AH
^ rather than she knows poorness, she knows suffering, thats the good thing about jo, you know for writing, she knows what it is like to have a really bad time and have serious problems _________________
bella=cute jorge=luv ashy=cool tashy=weirdo ginnyx=pottergeek
^^thus she gave us weasleys... a family she defined so well.. and a family that stick together even in poverty... parents trying to do everything possible for their 7 kids.. just like Jo did for her daughter... _________________
Name: Ruchika Pal
House: Gryffindor
Blood status: Half Blood
Wand :11", Holly, Unicorn
Patronous: Wolf
Gryffindor Quidditch Team Cheerleader
Last edited by Indian_gal on March 24, 2008 12:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
It seems like every time the media starts to lose interest in here, she finds a way to get herself back into the spotlight. I'm being totally insensitive here, but I'm not entirely sure she was suffering from real, full blown depression. You can be depressed and not have depression, and suicidal thoughts doesn't necessarily mean depression, either. Did she take medications (I'm really curious)? Even a the world renowned mood disorder expert, Kay Redfield Jamison, says that therapy should be paired with medications (in most cases). All I get out of this whole thing is that hay, money fixes everything! 'Kay. I'm done being a bitch now. <.<
Edit: Oh, I'm also moving this to Politics and News. _________________
"This is a new garden over old flowers, and old makes old jokes take on the feel of the lore."
Last edited by of the lore on March 24, 2008 1:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
i think she probably didnt feel confident enough to admit it until recently _________________
bella=cute jorge=luv ashy=cool tashy=weirdo ginnyx=pottergeek
well isn't there a difference between depression and clinical depression? like...a chemical imbalance vs just being sad from crappy situations. but either way its bad and very real and can be hard to overcome, which she did.
im guessing clinical would be those who seem to have it all but are still depressed, and then yeah they'd need pills. but if you've just had a crappy time of it, therapy would probably be all you need. to learn how to cope and such. _________________
Clinical depression is long-term depression. usually after 2-3 weeks of experiencing severe symptoms, you are clinically depressed. _________________
^ Games and Trivia
well isn't there a difference between depression and clinical depression? like...a chemical imbalance vs just being sad from crappy situations. but either way its bad and very real and can be hard to overcome, which she did.
im guessing clinical would be those who seem to have it all but are still depressed, and then yeah they'd need pills. but if you've just had a crappy time of it, therapy would probably be all you need. to learn how to cope and such.
Clinical Depression/Major Depression/Minor Depression are just the names of the diagnosis. If it's diagnosed depression, it'd be called one of those (unless the names are different in the UK). To be diagnosed with depression in the US, you have to have been suffering from the symptoms every day for at least two weeks. She either had clinical depression or was just depressed.
There's the US criteria. They're both fairly vague, so it'd take some more questioning from the doc and such to diagnose. _________________
"This is a new garden over old flowers, and old makes old jokes take on the feel of the lore."
It supposedly lasted a long time. Also, and I knew someone was going to bring this up, she went and got treatment before HP was published. So money has nothing to do with her feeling better. Actually, her writing was therapeutic for her.
Not everyone that is depressed benefits from medication. Sometimes the side effects work with reverse effects. Other times, medication is severely needed, What she used was cognitive therapy, so although medication was not perscribed, it was not as if she snapped her fingers and it was all gone. She went through intense therapy to help her deal with her issues.
(Thank you for moving it, I wasn't sure.) _________________
^courtesy of ravvy
BERY!
How was she able to afford therapy then, if she was so poor (really curious, not meant in a super bitchy way)? But anti-depressants are not hard to get, so I don't understand why she would refuse them, and I don't understand why they wouldn't offer them if she'd been diagnosed with depression. From my experience, neither work all that well on there own. _________________
"This is a new garden over old flowers, and old makes old jokes take on the feel of the lore."
How was she able to afford therapy then, if she was so poor (really curious, not meant in a super bitchy way)? But anti-depressants are not hard to get, so I don't understand why she would refuse them, and I don't understand why they wouldn't offer them if she'd been diagnosed with depression. From my experience, neither work all that well on there own.
I'm sure England has clinics, just like we do. Also, their health system is different from ours, they actually have health insurance for everyone.
And, as I said, not everyone needs medication. _________________
^courtesy of ravvy
BERY!
If her depression was severe as she is saying it was (suidical thoughts, and such), I don't see why she wouldn't need medications. _________________
"This is a new garden over old flowers, and old makes old jokes take on the feel of the lore."
Rules
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in
