Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Wednesday night to be treated for clinical depression, the Pennsylvania Democrat’s office said in a statement.
Fetterman, who suffered a stroke last year, was admitted to another hospital last week after feeling lightheaded. He was back in the Senate and voting this week.
“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, the senator’s chief of staff, said in the statement on Thursday. Congress’s attending physician evaluated Fetterman and recommended inpatient care.
“After examining John, the doctors at Walter Reed told us that John is getting the care he needs, and will soon be back to himself,” Jentleson said.
Fetterman’s health has been a concern since he suffered the stroke during his hotly contested Senate race against Republican Mehmet Oz.
Depression is common for stroke survivors, according to the American Stroke Association, which said they may not be able to feel positive emotions when the brain is injured.
“After what he’s been through in the past year, there’s probably no one who wanted to talk about his own health less than John,” Gisele Fetterman, his wife, tweeted. “I’m so proud of him for asking for help and getting the care he needs.”
Tests from his hospital stay last week, including a CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging, ruled out another stroke or seizure, his communications director, Joe Calvello, said at the time.
Fetterman, 53, attended President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address at the Capitol last week.
--With assistance from Steven T. Dennis and Ari Natter.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
