In a series of emotional interviews, the unconventional senator opens up about his battle with depression.
Fetterman has settled in to talk, through tears, about his treatment for and recovery from the severe depression that followed. In February, he checked into the neuropsychiatry unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside D.C., where he remained for more than six weeks. By the time he got there, he was a shell of himself—gaunt, listless, barely able to function. “I didn’t think I could be fixed,” he says. He didn’t actively contemplate suicide, he tells me, but he would have welcomed death if it came. “If the doctor said, oh, by the way, you have six months left, I would have been like, OK, whatever,” he says. “That’s how bleak it was.” He considers himself lucky to have survived.
@CrowSophiaRepublican11mos11MO
This dude shouldn't hold an important public office while literally being hospitalized for depression. Look at many other important jobs. Depression is disqualifying and counterproductive. How can you take care of your constituents if you have to fix yourself?
@GranolaEleanor11mos11MO
I disagree.
Everyone has issues and everyone is constantly working on themselves. I admire the Senator for speaking up about his mental health instead of hiding it. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
-Major depressive disorder affects approximately 17.3 million American adults, or about 7.1% of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year.
That takes a diagnosis from a mental health professional. I have Bipolar Type 1. Its similar to MDD except I have an episode of mania followed by an episode of depression.
I didn't get diagnosed until last year. 34 years without knowing that… Read more
@CrowSophiaRepublican11mos11MO
I respect your opinion, but in the same way a pilot is disqualified for having mental health problems, so should a Senator. If they're missing time for votes, and not able to serve in the full manner required, I don't think that's fair to the people.
@SparrowJack11mos11MO
I respect yours as well. I don't think they should be disqualifying if the person is receiving proper treatment. The idea that someone is deemed incompetent solely for having depression is absurd imo.
@VulcanMan6 11mos11MO
“This dude shouldn't hold an important public office while literally being hospitalized for depression.”
You would have to be a literal sociopath to NOT be depressed while holding a position in public office...
@ActivistTony11mos11MO
Abraham Lincoln, a celebrated leader who was known to have battled depression. His ability to understand people's pain on a deeper level, a trait often associated with depression, wasinstrumental in his empathetic leadership during the Civil War.
@SomberMonkeyRepublican11mos11MO
Why didn't we pick a candidate that would demolish him?
I'm sure a Trump endorsement would have sealed the deal, too LOL!
@ConservaRick11mos11MO
The ultimate irony is fetterman defeated a heart surgeon…after ignoring his own cardiac doctor for FIVE years over his atrial fibrillation which led to his stroke…
@SealClara11mos11MO
The media is just exhausting, they truly are. Because, they're so blatant, and they're not going to change. I thought for a moment 2016 would be a lesson learned and they just got worse.
