Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is sharing what it is like to have “dark” conversations with one’s self about self-harm after he grappled w...
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is sharing what it is like to have “dark” conversations with one’s self about self-harm after he grappled with depression earlier this year.
In a “Meet the Press” interview that aired on NBC on Sunday, Fetterman discussed hitting the “emergency break” and getting treatment, according to the Associated Press.
“This is a conversation that I’ve had with myself and anybody that knows they’re unable to address their depression, is they start to have dark conversations with themself about self-harm,” Fetterman said. “And things continued to kind of tick off the list. And then I kind of hit the emergency brake.”
Fetterman checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in February and received treatment for clinical depression after sustaining a stroke that nearly killed him and left the senator with auditory processing complications during the 2022 campaign. He was released in May when the doctor said Fetterman had achieved a statement of remission.
Fetterman told reporter Kristen Welker that he thought going public with inpatient treatment “would be the end of my career” and explained how he “walked off” with restricted contact with the outside world during his stay at Walter Reed.
He said his “watershed moment” happened when his children came to visit him for the first time, per NBC News. “I was overwhelmed that they embraced me and they were so happy to see me,” Fetterman said. “It was like a breakthrough.”
Fetterman, who has since established himself as a maverick in the Democratic Party with his stance on border security and declaring he is not a progressive while touting support for Israel, emphasized that depression is a “real thing” that “needs to be addressed” to conquer a sense of hopelessness.
He also said he wanted people who are experiencing depression to know “no matter how bad it might … look right now, I’m begging you, it’s not that bad, it’s not that bad. And even if you think that’s true, hold on. Just, you got to hold on. And you can’t imagine how much better it can get if you make the investment and the commitment to just hold that line and work to get better.”
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