HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has left the 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 its session in mid-April, his office. said there.
In a statement, Fetterman’s office said he returned to Braddock, in western Pennsylvania, with depression “in remission,” and detailed his treatment — including that his depression is treated with medication and that he wears hearing aids to hear. loss.
It was the latest medical episode for the Democrat, who won last fall’s most expensive Senate contest after suffering a stroke he said nearly killed him and from which he continues to recover.
Fetterman, who has a wife and three school-age children, said he was happy to be home.
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“I’m excited to be the father and husband I want to be, and deserve to be a Pennsylvania senator. Pennsylvania has always had my back, and I always have,” Fetterman said. “I am so thankful for the amazing team at Walter Reed. The care they provided changed my life.
Fetterman, 53, will return to the Senate the week of April 17.
Doctors describe “remission” as when a patient responds to treatment so that they return to normal social functioning and are indistinguishable from someone who has never been depressed.
In an interview to be aired on “CBS Sunday Morning,” Fetterman said his symptoms intensified after winning the November election.
“The whole thing about depression,” he says, “is that objectively you can win, but depression really convinces you that you’re losing and that’s exactly what happens and that’s the start of a downward spiral.”
She said she “stopped leaving the bed, I stopped eating, I lost weight, I stopped doing some of the things I love most in my life.”
Fetterman checked into Walter Reed on February 15 after a week of what aides described as Fetterman withdrawn and not interested in eating, discussing work or the usual banter with staff.
At that time, Fetterman was barely a month into his service in Washington and was still recovering from the effects of the stroke he suffered last May when he went to Walter Reed on the advice of the Capitol doctor, Dr. Brian P. Monahan.
Post-stroke depression is common and can be treated through medication and talk therapy, doctors say.
Fetterman’s return will be good news for Democrats who have struggled to find votes for some nominees, especially without him in the Senate.
Fetterman’s office also publishes details of treatment in medical professionals led by Dr. David Williamson, neuropsychiatrist.
At the time of admission, Fetterman was experiencing “severe symptoms of depression with low energy and motivation, minimal speech, poor sleep, slow thinking, slow movement, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, but no suicidal ideation,” Williamson said.
The symptoms had worsened over the previous eight weeks and Fetterman stopped eating and drinking fluids. That causes low blood pressure, the statement said.
“His depression, now that it’s over, may have been a barrier to engagement,” he said.
Fetterman suffered a stroke last May while campaigning in a three-way Democratic primary race. He had surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator to manage two heart conditions, atrial fibrillation and cardiomyopathy.
One of Fetterman’s primary effects of stroke is auditory processing impairment, which can prevent people from speaking fluently and quickly processing spoken conversation into meaning. Fetterman uses a device in conversations, meetings and congressional hearings that literally translates the spoken word.