Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman confirmed Sunday on NBC News that he had “thoughts of harming” himself prior to receiving treatment for his depression earlier this year.
Fetterman appeared on “Meet The Press” to discuss his mental health journey over the last year after receiving treatment for his depression at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. NBC host Kristen Welker noted to the Democratic senator that while it may be “hard to talk about,” she wanted to confirm if he had ever had “thoughts of harming” himself.
Fetterman affirmed her question stating that not only has he had thoughts of self harm, but that he wanted to share his journey in order to help others by being “fully honest.” (RELATED: John Fetterman To James Carville: ‘Shut The F*ck Up’)
“And I know this is so hard to talk about. But just to be clear about what you’re saying – you’re saying that you had thoughts of harming yourself?” Welker asked.
“Yeah – yeah, I had. I’ve had that – I’ve said that publicly. And at first I didn’t,” Fetterman stated.
“I thought at that time well, like if I can be of most service or I can be helpful to people, it’s like I have to be fully honest about it. And that’s what I decided to do and it will be my goal or is to – if somebody could hear this kind of a message and this conversation that we’re having might make a different choice that.”
Welker continued to question Fetterman, asking the Pennsylvania senator to describe what his family had said to him to check himself “in for treatment” and “actually get help.” Fetterman responded by stating that he came to a “fork in the road” while making the decision, eventually deciding to “take the chance.” (RELATED: ‘Gives Me Hope’: Fox & Friends Host Offers Rare Praise To Fetterman For Calling Out Left-Wingers)
“You did have a team around you, family around you who loved you very much, who loves you very much. You describe a bit of an intervention. What did they say to you to make it – get you to make that final step to go and actually get help to check yourself in for treatment?” Welker questioned.
“It just really got to that fork in the road. And I was like, what I have no idea what life would look like if I don’t take advantage of this amazing opportunity, or what could possibly happen and I could maybe even get better even though I didn’t think I could get better. So I decided, well, I’ll take the chance,” Fetterman stated.
Fetterman continued to describe that following the public release of admitting himself to the hospital he assumed that it would be the “end” of his career, noting that he felt “desolate for the first couple of weeks.” The Pennsylvania senator additionally described how his family and brother would “visit” him at the hospital, however, he stated that he had “kind of” just “wanted to be left alone.”
“I didn’t like to have a lot of conversations. I just kind of wanted to just be left alone, and just stay in bed,” Fetterman said.
The Democratic senator checked himself into a military medical hospital in February 2023, with his Chief of Staff confirming the situation and stating that Fetterman’s ongoing depression had become “severe” within the recent weeks.