WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said on MSNBC’s «Joe Scarborough Presents» that he is «begging» people struggling with mental health to seek treatment like him, saying that he «saved me from my anguish». «
Just over a month after being released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in suburban Washington, Maryland, Fetterman told Scarborough in an emotional interview that aired Monday night about his recent experience at the struggles with clinical depression and hospital treatment that helped him recover.
Fetterman, who suffered a stroke nearly a year ago, said his depression worsened after he was elected to the Senate in November.
«I stopped getting out of bed. And it wasn’t just because I was tired. It was just because I didn’t want to,» he said, adding that his children were confused about why he wasn’t happy after winning. an exhausting campaign.
Fetterman was sworn in to the Senate in January and was hospitalized in early February after feeling dizzy. A week later, he checked into Walter Reed for treatment for depression.
«I will never forget the decision,» Fetterman told Scarborough about what led him to seek help. «It’s like, you know… if I don’t do something to reclaim my life, this could be, you know, tragic.»
Fetterman said he was «skeptical» at the beginning of the process and was in a «difficult place» for the first few weeks. «One of the deepest things,» he said, was «actually, my brother, like my best friend, said, you know, he had a moment where he was afraid you wouldn’t come back.»
«I scared my family,» he said, adding that he didn’t care about the political consequences because he felt «this is my last chance to save myself.»
During the first three weeks of treatment, Fetterman said, he did not see his children because he was «ashamed of what he had done.» But after several weeks, they visited him, bringing Post-it notes that Fetterman’s father had left for him and writing dozens of encouraging notes that hung all over his room.
Fetterman described the moment as a turning point in his treatment, saying the love of his family was his «catalyst.»
«That’s what sparked my idea that there’s a big, big reason to get better,» he said. «You have a lot to fight for.»
In the end, he said, «one of the best quotes of my life was my doctor [saying]’Your depression is in remission.’”
«Putting my kids through the fear of losing me was really the biggest motivation to take it on,» she said.
When he was admitted, Fetterman had severe symptoms of depression but no suicidal ideation, Dr. David Williamson, Walter Reed’s chief of neuropsychiatry and medical director, said at a briefing when Fetterman was released in late March, according to his office in the Senate. Fetterman’s symptoms worsened in the eight weeks before he was admitted and he had low blood pressure that may have affected cerebral circulation, Williamson said at the time.
Fetterman’s depression was managed with drug therapy, Williamson said. In the weeks that followed, Fetterman’s doctors said, his mood improved and she began to sleep, eat and hydrate.
Fetterman was released from Walter Reed on March 31 and checked in on February 15.
Depression and mental health crises are a «human problem,» Fetterman said, regardless of political party. Encouraging people to seek treatment should be a national priority, he said, and it is one of his own personal goals.
«There is a great duty to return it in my redemption,» he said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255text HOME to 741741 or visit TalkingSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.