After spending over a month in a hospital being treated for clinical depression this year, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., revealed his depression was “in full force” during his first few weeks in the Senate.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May 2022 while campaigning for the Pennsylvania Senate race, resulting in auditory processing issues and depression.
After being sworn into office, the Democrat checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in February to be treated for his depression, where he stayed until late March.
“I always treated my depression like I did with losing my hair,” Fetterman told People magazine of his mental health battle. “It’s just kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s just part of my makeup.'”
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Fetterman described his one and only midterm debate against Dr. Mehmet Oz as like “trying to run a marathon with a broken ankle.” During the debate, Fetterman was granted the use of a closed captioning system so that he would be able to read the questions being asked.
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The Democrat also revealed that his depression after the midterms became so severe he stopped eating and drinking.
“I literally stopped eating and drinking, and I wasn’t functional,” Fetterman told the outlet.
“After winning, he seemed to be at the lowest. That was, for me, the moment of concern,” Gisele Fetterman said of her husband’s state of mind following his midterm win.
“There wasn’t one person in my life that said, ‘Yeah, you really seem great. You sound fine here,’” Fetterman said, revealing he was “firmly indifferent to living” at the time.
“The conversation I had with my team and my family is that I’ve got to do something or it could end in the most awful way,” the senator said, detailing his decision to seek help. “I wasn’t thinking about self-harm, but I was firmly indifferent to living.”
Fetterman made his official return to the Senate Monday after his weeks-long hospital stay, telling reporters “it’s great to be back.”