Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is reportedly set to miss weeks of work after checking himself into a hospital this week for severe depression.
NBC News reporter Dasha Burns tweeted, “A senior aide to Senator Fetterman tells me he will likely be in inpatient care for clinical depression for ‘a few weeks.'”
“A senior aide says it’s been difficult to distinguish the stroke from the depression – saying it’s hard to tell at times if Fetterman is ‘not hearing you, or is he sort of crippled by his depression and social anxiety,'” Burns continued. “A senior aide tells me both the staff and Fetterman himself were taken by surprise by the severe onset of depression.”
“The aide also says this hasn’t compromised his ability to do the job going forward, and he will be back to work once he has taken care of his mental health,” Burns added.
A senior aide tells me both the staff and Fetterman himself were taken by surprise by the severe onset of depression.
The aide also says this hasn't compromised his ability to do the job going forward, and he will be back to work once he has taken care of his mental health.
— Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) February 17, 2023
Fetterman’s office revealed Thursday that the freshman senator checked himself into a hospital on Wednesday night for mental health issues.
The statement said that the decision to check Fetterman into the hospital came after the attending physician of the United States Congress recommended that he do so.
“Last night, Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression,” his office said. “While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks.”
“On Monday, John was evaluated by Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress,” the statement said. “Yesterday, Dr. Monahan recommended inpatient care at Walter Reed. John agreed, and he is receiving treatment on a voluntary basis.”
The New York Times reported late last week that Fetterman was struggling with “serious mental health” issues and often cannot understand the words that others are saying to him following the stroke that nearly killed him last year.
The report said that Fetterman’s struggles are significantly worse when he is under any kind of stress.
Fetterman has indicated that when he’s under stress, people’s voices become muffled, the report said.
The report comes following Fetterman’s hospitalization last week after feeling lightheaded at a Democrat Senate retreat.
Fetterman’s staff claimed that doctors said that he did not have another stroke and that they were checking for signs of seizures.
The report noted that the stroke last year has taken a “very real psychological toll” on him and that he has “had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign.”
Fetterman’s office released a statement last Friday claiming that medical tests from the health episode came back negative.
“A few minutes ago, Senator John Fetterman was discharged from The George Washington University Hospital,” the statement said. “In addition to the CT, CTA, and MRI tests ruling out a stroke, his EEG test results came back normal, with no evidence of seizures.”