Sen. John Fetterman opens up about his mental health struggles
The Pennsylvania Democrat was discharged in March from inpatient treatment for clinical depression after his mental health struggles intensified during recovery from a 2022 stroke.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said in candid remarks about his struggles with depression that he feared seeking treatment would be the end of his political career.
In an exclusive interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” the first term senator, who was discharged in March from inpatient treatment for clinical depression, recalled a “very dark” moment in December 2022 when he was unable to get out of bed while “dreading” his Senate swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 3.
“People hear all their lives about ‘I can’t get out of bed,’ and you really can’t understand what that really means. You can’t get out of bed until it happens to you. And it did,” he told moderator Kristen Welker.
“And I was scaring my children, and they were confused,” he added. “And, of course, my wife was concerned, and I think she understands better than the kids did.”
Asked how he was feeling compared to a year ago, before he sought treatment for depression, Fetterman said that “things are so much different” now.
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