Margaret Trudeau

• Trudeau has said that she experienced severe mood episodes for decades before fully understanding what was happening. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 2000–2001, following a family intervention and hospital treatment. [1]
• She has described initially resisting or ignoring the diagnosis, but later came to accept it and began speaking publicly about living with bipolar disorder through interviews, public talks and her 2010 memoir Changing My Mind. [1]

• Trudeau has described long periods of severe depression beginning in early adulthood, including a major depressive episode after the birth of her second son. She said she became deeply sad, isolated and disengaged, while an early psychiatric consultation dismissed the episode as “baby blues.” [4]
• Her depressive periods were often followed by mania. Trudeau has described becoming intensely energetic, impulsive and unable to judge the consequences of her behaviour. She has connected some of her most publicized behaviour in the 1970s—including partying at Studio 54, spending excessively and travelling with the Rolling Stones—to periods of untreated mania. [1]
• She has also described later episodes severe enough to require psychiatric hospitalization, including a profound depression following the death of her son Michel in 1998. [2]

• After being hospitalized and finding a psychiatrist she trusted, Trudeau began treatment that included medication and cognitive behavioural therapy. She has said that CBT helped her change patterns of thinking and develop skills for maintaining greater emotional stability. [2]
• She has also described continuing to take a mild dose of a mood stabilizer and using exercise, sleep, meditation, yoga and time in nature as part of managing her bipolar disorder. [8]

• Trudeau has described recovery as a gradual process rather than a return to life before illness. She has said that effective medication, cognitive behavioural therapy and strong community support helped her regain stability and rebuild her life after severe episodes of depression and mania. [3]
• She has also emphasized that recovery does not mean bipolar disorder has disappeared. Instead, she describes staying well as an ongoing process of treatment, self-awareness and taking “steady baby steps toward being well.” [4]

• Since publicly disclosing her bipolar disorder in 2006, Trudeau has become a prominent mental-health advocate. She has spoken widely about her own experience with depression and mania, with particular emphasis on reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment rather than hide or dismiss symptoms. [1]
• Her advocacy has included work with organizations such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, The Royal Ottawa Hospital and the UBC Mental Health Institute. In 2016, the Canadian Psychiatric Association gave her its President’s Commendation in recognition of her contribution to mental-health advocacy and stigma reduction. [7][6]

“It’s a process to get well, but there is recovery.”

— Margaret Trudeau [4]