At the beginning of January, I contributed a piece to “Idol Chatter” positing that spinning Britney Spears’ then increasingly curious behavior as a drug problem was far more acceptable in America than admitting to suffering from a mental health disorder. I concluded the piece by voicing my hope that once Britney found her own stability she might share with the country her own struggles and by so doing help the average American battling depression.
I thought about the piece again yesterday in light of recent published reports that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling contemplated suicide while battling depression during a particularly rough patch in her 20s, including a divorce from her first husband and living on the dole.

“Mid-20s life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted,” Rowling told a reporter for Edinburgh University’s Student magazine. “We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable’.”
“I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never,” the best-selling author continued. “What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that.”
And this is exactly what I was talking about: One of the world’s richest women and most-beloved authors not only openly admits to having suicidal thoughts, but doesn’t think it’s something of which to be ashamed; but rather, finds it a source of pride.
As the AP reports, the Dementors in the Harry Potter series were inspired by her own depression, but Rowling is using her own personal Patronus charm to shine light on the subject matter and dispel the stigma surrounding depression. Here’s hoping Britney will take up the wand and run with it…