Sen. John Fetterman acknowledges that there was once a period when he did not want to discuss depression at all. Now, the Pennsylvania Democrat, who returned to the U.S.
Senate this week after taking a leave in mid-February to seek treatment for clinical depression, believes it is his duty to “pay it forward” by speaking openly about the illness.
In his first broadcast interview since his return to Congress, he told NPR’s Scott Detrow,
“Every night when I was laying in bed in the hospital, I thought, ‘What if I had just done something about this before?’ I could kick myself, and I just think about how my family and constituents wouldn’t have been put through it.'”
“But now that I’m back, I’m committed to… letting people know that there is a path to recovery for anyone experiencing these feelings.”
During this week’s meeting of the Democratic caucus, Fetterman’s colleagues applauded his return with a standing ovation.
Fetterman stated,
“I cannot express how affecting it was for me.” “I would have been blown away if it had been merely warm, but a standing ovation and hugs and big handshakes and everything — and it was just — I’m so thankful to our colleagues and to Leader Schumer.”
He added that Democratic Sens. Tina Smith of Minnesota and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, as well as Republican Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama, visited him at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center while he was receiving treatment there.
Fetterman sat down with Detrow in Detrow’s windowless Capitol Hill office, which was decorated with portraits of the Philadelphia sports mascots Gritty and the Phantasm.
The senator was wearing his signature Carhartt hoodie and grey exercise shorts. He recently discovered that he does not need to wear a suit to vote. Additionally, he wore brand-new hearing devices and utilized closed captioning to process speech.
Since last year’s Senate campaign, when he suffered a severe stroke, Fetterman has been required to address questions about his health.
In November, however, the former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor defeated Trump-backed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz for the state’s first vacant Senate seat in a decade. His victory was a triumph for the Democrats and contributed to their consolidation of control over the Senate.
But according to Fetterman, there was no moment of relief, even after prevailing in a highly competitive and contentious campaign.
“After I won, I still felt depressed; I felt lost,” he explained. “I was not overjoyed. I was not pleased by it. I was relieved that it had come to an end. Nevertheless, I never had the chance to recover from the stroke, and I suffered from depression and a great deal of tension. I was unable to resolve the issue.”
He stated that the pressures of political campaigning, the seemingly endless attack advertisements, and the stroke combined to create a “perfect storm.”
On telling his family about his illness
Fetterman did not hesitate to discuss the suffering his melancholy caused him and his family. For example, the day he admitted himself to the hospital was the 14th birthday of his oldest son.
“I always get emotional just thinking about it,” he stated. “If this had happened to me when I was 14 years old, I would have been devastated.”
Fetterman expressed concern that his son will forever associate his birthday with the day he admitted himself to the hospital.
“My eldest son had a conversation that was difficult for him to comprehend: ‘Why, Dad, are you depressed? As if to say, ‘You ran and you won.’ And I attempted to explain to him, like, geez, Karl — I had this stroke and all of these advertisements and everything, and he was like, ‘but aren’t we enough?'” he recalled through tears. “Aren’t we enough?'”
Fetterman stated that the purpose of his six-week treatment was to “redeem me in their eyes.”
Now that his depression is in remission, he stated that he is appreciative of so much.
Being a full-fledged partner and being present, as well as taking my children out to get pizza, are straightforward things I’ve cherished.
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