Senator John Fetterman checks himself into Walter Reed Medical Center to treat ‘severe’ depression

Pennsylvania senator suffered a stroke last year

Pennsylvania’s new senator checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in order to receive treatment for “severe” clinical depression, his office said on Thursday.

John Fetterman has experienced periods of depression throughout his life, the statement continued, which added that he was receiving treatment.

“Last night, Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression. While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” his office said.

The senator “will soon be back to himself”, the statement concluded.

Mr Fetterman suffered a stroke last year and was voluntarily hospitalised after feeling lightheaded earlier this month.

According to his statement, this most recent hospitalisation came at the recommendation of the US Congress’ attending physician earlier this week.

His victory in the Pennsylvania Senate race enraged Republicans who had sought to make his mental capacities a campaign issue in the waning days of the race. Coverage of accessibility options that Mr Fetterman has taken advantage of upon assuming his office has only reignited the criticism of his ability to legislate on the right, while disability advocates have said that the tone and tenor of the coverage itself reveals an ableist bias in the Washington press.

Mr Fetterman’s opponent in the 2022 midterms was Dr Mehmet Oz, a celebrity TV doctor whose campaign was endorsed during the primary by Donald Trump. Dr Oz muddled through a lackluster campaign trail performance throughout the summer, making increasingly awkward and ugly attacks through spokespersons aimed at his opponent’s mental faculties, which failed to resonate with voters.

His victory, alongside that of incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia, was credited with delivering Democrats an expanded majority in the US Senate this term; Republicans had initially gone in to November’s midterms hoping to capture both chambers of the Congress and instead only saw their party attain a single-digit majority in the lower House.