Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman leaves Walter Reed with depression ‘in remission’

Sen. John Fetterman, shown at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year, was treated for clinical depression. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after six weeks of inpatient treatment for clinical depression, with plans to return to the Senate when the chamber resumes session in mid-April, his office said Friday. In a statement, Fetterman’s office said he is back home in Braddock, in western Pennsylvania, with his depression “in remission,” and gave details on his treatment — including that his depression was treated with medication and that he is wearing hearing aids for hearing loss. “The whole thing about depression,” he said, “is that objectively you may have won, but depression can absolutely convince you that you actually lost, and that’s exactly what happened and that was the start of a downward spiral.” He said he “had stopped leaving my bed, I’d stopped eating, I was dropping weight, I’d stopped engaging in some of the most — things that I love in my life.” Fetterman checked into Walter Reed on Feb. 15, after weeks of what aides described as the senator being withdrawn and uninterested in eating, discussing work or the usual banter with staff. When he was admitted, Fetterman had “severe symptoms of depression with low energy and motivation, minimal speech, poor sleep, slowed thinking, slowed movement, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, but no suicidal ideation,” the statement attributed to Williamson said.