The story of US Democratic Senator John Fetterman would fit into one of those lazy “rise and bust” or “descent into hell” tales. Three months ago he was celebrating a decisive electoral victory and today he is admitted to a hospital for treatment of severe depression. And yet, as almost always, his story is much more complex and at the same time quite ordinary.
John Fetterman is one of the 280 million people who suffer from depression worldwide, 5% of adults. A tricky extrapolation would tell us that five other US senators must be going through the same thing as him, but they don’t say it. That really makes him special, that there are still few of his professional colleagues who do what he does: tell it and ask for help.
the perfect candidate
His story begins in Pennsylvania. First mayor, then lieutenant governor and from there to national politics. The Democrats love him because he’s all they need: a popular politician in a state where Donald Trump has hurt them, with shuttered factories and angry whites. Plus, he looks anything but political: shaved, tattooed, and much more in a hoodie than a suit and tie. Without mincing words and with a great sense of humor. The perfect rival for the candidate chosen by Trump.
Then, 10 months ago, the blow came: a stroke that almost killed him at the gates of the electoral campaign. Democrats were terrified that they were left without the perfect candidate for the key battle, but Fetterman pushed to get back fast. As one counselor puts it with grim-sounding sincerity, “What you’re supposed to do to recover from this is as little as possible and he was forced to do as much as possible.”
Forced by whom? For his party, his voters, his own aspirations? But he came back. He returned with a disability that prevented him from understanding what others were saying, debuting in interviews and in electoral debates a system that allowed him to read in a tablet automatically generated subtitles of what your rival was saying. Then the uncomfortable questions began: is he capable of doing the job of a senator?
He said yes and the voters agreed. Fetterman won in November to the delight of his party and the relief of his president. However, complications continued: the prize for his victory was a very stressful new job that he arrived at in difficult conditions and that also forced him to live far from his wife and his three children.
Again, nothing too special: As many as one in three stroke patients also suffer from depression, and Fetterman had had depressive episodes in the past. The Senate tried to make it as easy as possible for him: just as a ramp is put up for someone in a wheelchair, they installed his subtitle system on the seat. Even so, he could not interact normally with journalists in the corridors or get into the classic huddles with other senators.
At the beginning of February, when he had been in office for a month, he went to the hospital because he was feeling unwell. They ruled out a new stroke, but he was there for a couple of days. Upon his return, his advisers were alarmed: for the first time in his life they found him quiet and introverted. According to one of them, “profoundly not him.” It is then that, after visiting the Senate doctor, he went to the hospital and was admitted to receive medical attention. During how much time? It is not known, but “weeks”.
A taboo that is falling
The most special thing about Fetterman’s story is that, not covering it up, telling it. As society becomes more normal about mental health, its politicians also understand that times have changed a lot since Sen. Thomas Eagleton had to drop his vice-presidential run after it emerged he had been treated for depression.
In recent decades, by little drops, various politicians have shown that it is possible to be honest about depression and that voters understand and do not punish a mental health problem like they do not punish the flu, cancer or a pelvic fracture. Fetterman has not only been honored with what was happening to him, but he has also made it clear that he does not intend to resign. “There are plenty of examples of senators being away for much longer periods and this is no different.” says his team.
This normalization is very valuable. It wasn’t that long ago that some congressmen dressed up to go buy antidepressants, but the arrival on the political front lines of some veterans who came from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who speak openly about post-traumatic stress, has helped. They, like the seven-foot-tall tattooed guy that is Fetterman, are not associated with weakness. An important message because men, when they are depressed, ask less for help, treat themselves less and commit suicide more.