former congressman, patrick kennedy, spoke with doreen gentzl and he opened up about his addictions and bipolar disorder. kennedy says instead of just shying away from a topic that some people think is taboo, he's talking about it, and that may start changing minds when it comes to how we treat the . >> i've had three and a half years of continuous sobriety, so that means i haven't used a drink or taken a mood-altering or mind-altering chemical in three and a half years. >> r for patrick kennedy, sobriety and advocacy now go hand in hand. that's because he knows he needs to stay sober if he's going to make a change in the way we handle mental illness in it's setting a new pattern in my life where, you know, sobriety is the norm, not the exception. and that takes a lot of focus. and frankly, as a result of that, i'm able to make a better -- do a better job advocating for mental health. >> r kennedy has had a long and public battle with addiction. he admitted using cocaine as a teenager and to abusing drugs and alcohol while a college student. he sought treatment for an addiction to pain

i have been involved in their consortium in the nap tha valle area, they bring in patrick kennedy fromhode island as a rep. he was suffering from depression. we mentioned glenn close as a spokesperson. they have a huge party they do, but that's surrounded by this consortium, it's a whole day of scientists, doctors, talking about mental health, then celebrating with a big show. we had gladys knight, some big acts up there. they do a great job. they're on it 24 hours a day. >> we have to take a bit of a break. we have so much more to talk about. the life and death of robin williams and the impact he's had on so . >> when people say he took his life, i say, no, he died of an illness. he had challenges that were an illness. sometimes something so high profile and heartbreaking can give us a boost to do more. >> why are people killing themselves. terrible thing. i wish his legacy -- i wish his legacy would be something else. part of his legacy may be greater, save more lives than any movie or comedy show he ever did. >> comedian johnny steel, congresswoman thnancy pelosi talking about rob w

and richard, tell this story, he just met patrick kennedy last week and what did he say to you, richard? >> well -- kennedy and harding are the two senators to go straight from the senate to the presidency, the latest being barack obama. >> well, in so many words we were having dinner in a group setting for a meeting that we were at and i leaned over to him and said, patrick, we have a lot in common. and he said what is that? and he said, warren harding? and i said yeah. >> he said here's -- he's my hero. and i thought he was pulling my leg -- he said he's my hero. he said he has passion. most people don't have passion. he said and that's so important to me and he was bringing that up as being better than the passionless that he was comparing people to. >> there's a letter in this collection dated 1916 written by a lawyer and appears that both couples went to this lawyer to talk about the situation. you can read it and draw your own conclusions. but i think two couples did confront this situation and he was too far along in politics to get divorced and i don't think he wanted to get div

i was on a panel with commissioner hamberg and the former representative patrick kennedy that followed president clinton's speech. and he is really taking this issue on, which i thought was a positive. and he has a lot of energy, as you know. i'd say -- i start with prescription drugs because when i look at the facts on heroin, the fact that while the vast majority of prescription drug users do not start to use heroin, something like 97% of them, in fact, 4 out of 5 heroin users today started with prescription drugs. so i start with the demand issue with the prescription drugs and how we get to that. and i'd say, first of all, we have to do everything we can to reduce the supply. this means to me the drug takeback programs and getting them out of the hands of kids when it's the number two thing they're addicted to. senator cornyn and i passed a bill back in 2010. seems like quite a while ago, but still waiting on the rules that makes it easier and sets out some clear standards for how these drugs can be transported when they are put into takeback programs. we did that because there's c

i was on a panel with commissioner hamberg and the former representative patrick kennedy that followed president clinton's speech. and he is really taking this issue on, which i thought was a positive. and he has a lot of energy, as you know. i'd say -- i start with prescription drugs because when i look at the facts on heroin, the fact that while the vast majority of prescription drug users do not start to use heroin, something like 97% of them, in fact, 4 out of 5 heroin users today started with prescription drugs. so i start with the demand issue with the prescription drugs and how we get to that. and i'd say, first of all, we have to do everything we can to reduce the supply. this means to me the drug takeback programs and getting them out of the hands of kids when it's the number two thing they're addicted to. senator cornyn and i passed a bill back in 2010. seems like quite a while ago, but still waiting on the rules that makes it easier and sets out some clear standards for how these drugs can be transported when they are put into takeback programs. we did that because there's c

i was on a panel with commissioner hamberg and the former representative patrick kennedy that followed president clinton's speech. and he is really taking this issue on, which i thought was a positive. and he has a lot of energy, as you know. i'd say -- i start with prescription drugs because when i look at the facts on heroin, the fact that while the vast majority of prescription drug users do not start to use heroin, something like 97% of them, in fact, 4 out of 5 heroin users today std