J.K. Rowling confesses to suicidal thoughts after her first marriage failed.

The billionaire author of the best-selling Harry Potter series opens up to an Edinburgh University student magazine about her depression period and how she struggled to overcome her dark moments.

She reveals, "We're talking about suicidal thoughts here, we're not talking 'I'm a little bit miserable.'"

Rowling's marriage to journalist Jorge Arantes ended in 1993. She had suffered from clinical depression during that time.

She continues, "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 counseling through her. She absolutely saved me because I don't think I would have had the guts to go and do it twice."

The author says she's not ashamed of that dark period. She had efficiently made it through after the episode. She was married for the second time in 2001 to anesthetist Neil Michael Murray and her boy wizard character had given her success internationally.

She concludes, "I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. What's to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that."