Margaret Trudeau on Mental Illness

Lazy. Spoiled Brat. Flake. The media is a powerful force that attacks and shreds human dignity without giving real thought to the person they are critiquing. The three insulting names listed at the beginning of this article are only a fraction of the words the media and everyday people used to describe Margaret Trudeau when she was struggling with bipolar disorder. Being in the public eye was stressful and took a toll on Ms. Trudeau, but now she is transforming her past image into one of an advocate, a woman, a person in need. 

Every one of us, at some point in our lives will need support, encouragement and a push in the right direction. The night of October 7th saw Margaret Trudeau at a podium in 2200 River Building on campus addressing the topic of mental illness. Her speech marks the first of many events organized by CUSA and other groups to fill up Carleton’s Mental Illness Awareness Week. 

Ms.Trudeau, former wife of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, spoke candidly about her experiences with mental illness. She began by detailing that her childhood was stable as far as health goes – she ate well, exercised and had a structured life. When she moved away from her home to attend university at the tender age of sixteen stress became a large facet of her daily life. Since she never took a typing course in high school (having foregone it for home economics) Margaret found herself taking papers down to Chinatown to have people type them up at one o’clock in the morning. Soon that became a routine that cut into her sleep time, which in turn wreaked havoc on her eating and exercise habits. 

For a moment, she paused in the relation of her story to interject that stress must be higher in our generation. Our lack of intimacy (which she attributes to texting and emails) and the heightened sense of urgency we all seem to project must contribute to our stress. 

Her first brush with depression occurred after the birth of her second child, Sacha. She had no wish to interact with him, Justin (her first born) or anyone else for that matter. Pierre Trudeau became worried and brought her to a doctor who dismissed her condition and appeared more concerned with Canadian health care than with Margaret’s health. 

Ms. Trudeau walked the audience through her journey of manic and depressive stages. We travelled with her to hospital rooms, to Paris, and into her mind after the unfortunate death of her son, Michel.  That was the event, she declared that pushed her into a stage of psychosis where she became suicidal and became unable to care for herself. 

Despite everything, Trudeau was still very positive. When asked how to deal with the stigma of mental illness she replied stalwartly, “Hold your head up.”  Margaret Trudeau is living proof that accepting that you need help is half the battle and that only you can truly save yourself. Trudeau finished her speech with this statement, “The shame is not in having the illness but in not getting help when you need it.”

Photo Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca/m…