( CM ) - The Harry Potter author married Portuguese journalist Jorge Arantes in 1992 while working as an English language teacher and the pair had a child, Jessica, in July 1993.
But the couple divorced in November of that year and Rowling has now told Edinburgh University student journalist Adeel Amini that she was prescribed cognitive behavioural therapy to deal with the trauma of the marriage.
"Mid-20s life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted," she 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 added that the intervention of her regular GP was instrumental in helping her cope with her depression after a replacement doctor had at first sent her away, advising her to contact the practice nurse if she felt "a bit low".
"We're talking suicidal thoughts here, we're not talking 'I'm a little bit miserable'," Rowling added.
"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."
The 42-year-old writer, who married anaesthetist Dr Neil Murray in 2001 and has had two children with him, was named the 13th richest woman in Britain in the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List, with a personal fortune of ?545 million.
"I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never," she added.
"What's to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that."