‘Hopeful’ John Fetterman opens up on depression: I was ‘miserable’

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is hopeful, a sentiment surprisingly foreign to a man who has achieved so much.

“It’s a strange feeling for me,” he told Jane Pauley CBS Sunday morninghis first interview since seeking treatment for clinical depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in mid-February.

The newly minted senator spoke to Pauley days before he was released from the hospital where he was being treated for nearly two months. He admitted to being “miserable” at pivotal moments, from his Senate win in November to his inauguration ceremony in January.

“I was definitely depressed,” he described his mentality in January.

Due to his depression, he was unable to get out of bed or satisfy his appetite, which resulted in weight loss. “I had stopped engaging in some of — most of the things I love about my life,” he said. His sudden turn of events sparked concern among his fellow Democrats, who harassed him over his lack of food.

This concern extended to his household. His wife Gisele has been researching depression extensively, he said, unable to understand how a man with so much — three children, a healthy marriage, a successful political career — could not find joy in it all.

“But depression doesn’t make sense, does it?” she told Pauley. “It’s not rational.”

Fetterman checked in with Walter Reed — under the guidance of a doctor — on his 14-year-old son’s birthday, a fact that both weighs heavily on him and gives him a sense of renewed purpose.

“My goal is to take my son to the restaurant we were supposed to go to on his birthday but couldn’t because I checked in because of depression,” he said.

It’s a drive Fetterman tries to carry into all aspects of his life now that he’s in remission, he said.

“I’m going home,” he said. “And I can’t wait [see] what it really feels like to take it all in and make up for lost time.”