Fetterman: I assumed speaking about mental health challenges would end my career

When Sen. John Fetterman left Walter Reed Medical Center this spring after six weeks of treatment for depression, he figured his political career was over.

“When it got released where I was and where it was going, it was, it was a big story. And so, I had assumed that that would be the end of my career,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told host Kristen Welker during an interview on NBC's “Meet the Press” airing Sunday.

“I really didn't know what would happen at that point,” he told Welker.

Nine months later, Fetterman is still in Congress. And he’s taken on the role as one of the Senate’s most colorful personalities — grabbing headlines most recently for sending his indicted colleague Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) a Cameo message from ousted former Rep. George Santos.

Instead of torpedoing his career, Fetterman’s openness about his mental health struggles has been lauded by medical professionals, other members of Congress and the public.

“It’s a risk that I wanted to take because I wanted to help people and know that I don't want them to suffer the way — or put any kinds of despair that I've been in. And if that conversation helps, then that’s — I'm going to continue to do that,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman checked into Walter Reed in February, but he first started to notice symptoms of his deepening depression when he entered the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate race in 2021, he said Sunday. At that point, it was a "slow burn," but Fetterman knew his health was continuing to deteriorate.

In May 2022, Fetterman suffered a nearly fatal stroke that left him with lingering struggles with speech and auditory processing. The "watermark" moment, Fetterman said, was a debate with Republican candidate Mehmet Oz months later, during which he struggled to respond to moderators' questions, even while using a closed captioning device.

After the debate, Fetterman said, "I figured, from — from the White House down, every Democrat would be like, "Oh, my God. What is — what have you done?"

But he held on until the election, which would end up being the most expensive race in 2022, and defeated Oz.

The debate "was October 25th, and the election was, I think, November 8th, so I was able to kind of keep myself enough to keep my together. And then, after the election, that's when things actually accelerated and got worse. And, at that point, I wasn't able to leave bed," he said.

Months later, after he started having thoughts of self-harm, Fetterman checked in to the hospital to receive inpatient care or clinical depression. At first, he was reluctant to discuss those thoughts publicly, he told Welker.

"I thought, at the time, '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."