Pubdate: Thu, 03 May 2007 Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616 CHECK MENTAL HEALTH - TRUDEAU Denying the despair of depression, the highs of mania and self-medicating a mood disorder through illicit drug use are pitfalls Margaret Trudeau knows all too well. The chance to forget your problems and be happy is often tempting for someone who is too depressed to resist, and too many alcohol and drug addictions mask underlying mental health problems. People too often neglect their mental health, Trudeau, 59, said at the launch of a campaign in Ontario to urge people to "Check Up from the Neck Up." The campaign is organized by the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario and has the support of a number of medical groups. "Our mental health is as important as our physical health," said the ex-wife of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. "We take such efforts to be physically well. Why aren't we checking on our mental health?" The deaths of her son Michel and ex-husband plunged her into depths of sorrow she was unaware existed, even after living with bipolar disorder for decades. She lost her will to live and ability to function. She couldn't even muster enough energy to go to the grocery store. It was then that she finally realized, with her family's help, that she wasn't well. "Six years ago I had to make big life changes," she said. "I had to give up my wicked, wicked ways. I had to get really honest with myself. I had to accept that I had a mental illness that needed to be treated." Those wicked ways - which included drug use and hard partying at glamorous nightclubs - are one aspect of her life that was well-documented when she was thrust into the spotlight as a 22-year-old flower child and bride of Pierre Trudeau in 1971. The couple, who had three sons, separated in 1977 and divorced in 1984. "One of the problems often with having a mood disorder untreated is that you self-medicate," she said. "I was a hippie in the late '60s and took to marijuana like a duck to water. ... It caused me difficulties in my life that I can't even mention." Smoking pot would drive her mania to dangerous highs, and even hospitalization. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek