U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has given his first interview since checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in February.
Opening up to CBS' Jane Pauley, the Pennsylvania Democrat reiterated that he has struggled with clinical depression for most of his life.
But this time — after suffering a near-fatal stroke during one of the most closely watched and expensive U.S. Senate campaigns in history — was different.
Fetterman went to Walter Reed on Feb. 15, beginning a six-week inpatient stay. Though he didn't experience thoughts of suicide, Fetterman told Pauley that mental illness had left him “indifferent” about living.
Instead of experiencing feelings of jubilation after flipping a Republican-held Senate seat in November, Fetterman said his depression became so severe he couldn't get out of bed.
The win, Fetterman said, precipitated a “downward spiral.” Despite everything, the newly crowned senator admitted that it felt like he lost.
Eventually, he stopped engaging with his three children.
His colleagues grew concerned when the usually 270-pound, 6'8″ Fetterman ate so little he went to the hospital after “feeling lightheaded.” Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed the following day.
Fetterman said he aspires to “being the kind of dad, the kind of husband and the kind of senator that Pennsylvania deserves.”
During the interview, Fetterman said his message about confronting mental illness isn't political.
Pauley also spoke to doctors at Walter Reed's psychiatric unit.
“He had markedly reduced motivation and drive,” David Williamson, a neuropsychiatrist and medical director at Walter Reed, said of when he began treating the senator. “The RPM in the brain, how fast you think and how clearly you think, is very substantially degraded when patients get depressed.”
“It's reversible?” Pauley asked. “It's certainly reversible, yes,” Williamson said.
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The anchor noted how doctors at Walter Reed discovered a “serious hearing deficit further complicating how his brain processes spoken language.”
“When I talk, what do you hear?” Pauley asked. Fetterman said, “I hear you talking, and I can understand much of what you're… saying. But my hearing has deficiency that makes it difficult for me to fully understand, and 100% of it.”
The freshman senator will return to work after Congress' Easter/Passover recess on April 17. Until then, he intends to spend every moment at his Pennsylvania home, making up for lost time with his family.
I feel like this man is mentally fragile, and here he is in one of the most stressful positions in the nation. I feel like the democrats ought to tell him that, for his own good, he should consider taking himself out of the hot seat. (They should have done it before the election.) They won’t. If they truly cared about their personnel, Joe would be able to take the naps he needs, but no, he continues to show up and embarrass everyone. They have no love for people, for truth, or for their nation.
Fetterman IS the kind of dad, husband, and senator PA deserves–They stupidly elected him knowing he was damaged goods and incapable of performing. They deserve him.
See my comment above. You are more correct than you think.
This person has to go away . He’s not good for anyone and anywhere. His wife wanted to get rid of him for the day so she got him elected senator. What’s wrong with those people in Penna? Are they stupid or what, electing a man that seems to want to end his life and can’t feel he is capable of doing his job. Those people knew something was wrong with him when he couldn’t even answer questions and had to refer to a computer.
Wake up people to who you want to elect. Now he lives off our money and takes time off whenever he gets sick. Sorry but you will have to get him ousted.
doctor says I have 18 months to ‘leave’ – doc got that one correct, but flutterby quickly changed that to ‘live’, and flutterby still didn’t care!
If he wants to avoid depression he should get out of politics and spend the time he has left with his family.
“Snaps” below is right. I live in PA. The side other than mine also elected a DEAD guy from the same party as John to the state legislature.
Is this really Fetterman? I saw those pictures of his head and face, and the doubles head and face. He has to prove himself through blood tests!
I don’t believe this person was elected, unless by guile, subterfuge, skullduggery and backstabbery. Who in their right mind would vote for him?