Academic

?JK Rowling admits having had ?suicidal thoughts??

By Ann Bartow

Props to Rowling for discussing this here. Below is an excerpt:

… Rowling and her first husband, Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes, had their daughter Jessica in 1993 but split up several months later.

The author, now 42, said the end of the three-year marriage plunged her into despair.

“We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable.’”

She said she sought treatment from her regular doctor, but he was away and the replacement doctor failed to take her problems seriously.

When her own doctor returned to work, she re-read the case notes and prescribed cognitive behavioural therapy, which typically involves sessions with a counsellor to help patients counter negative thoughts.

“She absolutely saved me because I don’t think I would have had the guts to go and do it twice,” Rowling said.

The author, whose seven books about the boy wizard have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide, said she was happy to talk about mental health problems to counter the stigma associated with depression.

“What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that,” she said. …

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on March 23, 2008 (boomark / email).