WASHINGTON – Senator John Fetterman admitted to having a “dark conversation” about harming himself before he hit the “emergency brake” and sought treatment for depression.
He still remembers thinking about his three children who were still in school. “I can’t be the blueprint for my children. I can’t let them be left alone or not understand why he would do that,” the first-term Pennsylvania Democrat told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in a deeply personal and introspective interview taped before Sunday’s broadcast.
So he checked himself into Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, last February 15. “There was nowhere else to go,” she said, describing how she often felt during her stay that “sometimes there was no hope and it was like, ‘What am I leaving behind?'”
He also wondered if he would survive in politics.
“When it came out where I was and where it went, it was a big story. So, I had assumed that would be the end of my career,” he said.
John Fetterman had thoughts of self-harm while after being elected to the Senate. AP
As he seeks treatment for clinical depression, Fetterman is still dealing with the effects of the stroke he suffered in May 2022, during his campaign for one of the most contested Senate seats. “My heart technically stopped, and it was a very touch and go situation,” said Fetterman, 54. A pacemaker was implanted with a defibrillator to manage two heart conditions, atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy.
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His victory over Republican Mehmet Oz helped Democrats control the Senate and made him a national figure.
It was the peak of his political career. But he couldn’t get out of bed at his home in Braddock, in western Pennsylvania.
“I really scared my kids, and they thought, ‘You win, Dad. Why are we not enough? Why are you still sad? Why are you getting sad?’ And it’s hard to – to explain why I. And, of course, a 9-year-old wouldn’t understand it. And it was horrible,” Fetterman said.
So much so that he said he “begged not to go to DC” that November for an orientation session in Washington for newly elected lawmakers.
Her favorite holiday is approaching, yet she can’t think about getting Christmas presents for her kids and is “dreading” her oath on Capitol Hill at the start of the new year.
Within two months, he was at Walter Reed. Aides have described the new senator as withdrawn and not interested in eating, discussing work or casual banter with staff.
Fetterman checked himself into the Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on February 15. AP
“This is a conversation I have with myself and anyone who knows they can’t deal with their depression, is they start having a dark conversation with themselves about self-harm,” Fetterman said. “And things kept going as listed. And then I hit the emergency brake.”
She added, “I knew I needed help.”
Before checking into Walter Reed, Fetterman had never publicly discussed his battle with depression. Since then he said that he has had it all his life.
He left Walter Reed in late March after six weeks of inpatient treatment with his depression “in remission,” according to a statement from his office.
Fetterman returned to the Senate in April. AP
Doctors describe “remission” as when a patient responds to treatment so that they have returned to normal social functioning and they are indistinguishable from someone who never had depression.
Fetterman has since become a visible presence in the Capitol, bantering with reporters, bantering with Senate colleagues and speaking at Senate hearings.
To others currently “facing a very dark holiday season,” Fetterman offers this guidance: “I know that last year was lonely. And this year can be lonely. Next year can be the best. And that’s what happened to me.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
