Rosie O'Donnell talks about being treated for depression at Depression Forum

We were faced with a genuine People dilemma today: run more on Liz Hurley's endless wedding celebration in India – seemingly in its sixth month now – or go with a story featuring an upside-down Rosie O'Donnell.

OK, no contest, Rosie wins. Here's the skinny: O'Donnell says she began being treated for depression after the Columbine school shootings and hangs upside down for up to a half-hour a day to improve her mental state.

When gunmen killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, O'Donnell said she felt as if it had happened to her children.

"I couldn't stop crying," she said on an episode taped for ABC's "The View" and due to air Friday. "I stayed in my room. The lights were off. I couldn't get out of bed, and that's when I started taking medication."

Anyone concerned about the stigma of taking medication for depression should know that "it saved my life," she said.

When she began taking antidepressants, O'Donnell, 44, said she began yoga and "inversion therapy," where she hangs upside down by a swing for 15 to 30 minutes a day. She demonstrates it on "The View."

"Like in 'The Wizard of Oz' the color goes out," she said. "That is what happens in depression. Everything gets gray."

Rosie O'Donnell Suffered from Depression; Will Demonstrate Treatment on Friday's Show

At one time or another, most people suffer from Depression. Celebrities are no different. Just ask Rosie O'Donnell. She recently spoke about her battle with depression. Now, the television personality will describe her experience as well as the treatment options she found effective on 'The View' on Friday.

When speaking about her depression, she explains that there was one event that triggered the illness.

According to Rosie O'Donnell, when gunmen entered Columbine High School and took the lives of 13 people, she went over the edge. She secluded herself in her bedroom with the lights off and cried constantly. She could not seem to get a grip of herself, and refused to leave the bedroom.

That was when she knew she needed medication.

On Friday's show, Rosie O'Donnell will speak out about her dealings with depression on "The View" in hopes to spread the word that depression is a serious illness that can happen to anyone. She will also discuss what helped her pull out of her depression and will demonstrate "inversion therapy", something that she does still and credits for helping her battle the illness.

Inversion therapy involves hanging upside down or at an inverted angle to use gravity to naturally decompress the joints of the body. In particular, it is often advertised as a relief for back pain. It, however, is rarely regarded as a serious treatment for back pain.

Hanging in this way, as with gravity boots or inversion tables, causes each joint in the body to be loaded in an equal and opposite manner to standing.

Proponents claim that inversion therapy is particularly beneficial for the spine in that it relieves pressure on the discs and nerve roots; this in turn allows discs to recover lost moisture and to return to their original shape, decreasing the pressure they can exert on nerves.

Advertisements also claim that it stimulates circulation, improves posture, strengthens ligaments, increases oxygen flow to the brain and increases flexibility.

Rosie O'Donnell talks about being treated for depression

People column: Celebrity news

Rosie O'Donnell Suffered from Depression; Will Demonstrate Treatment on Friday's Show