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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) checked himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Wednesday night to receive treatment for clinical depression, his office announced Thursday.
Fetterman’s decision to seek help comes a month after entering the Senate after suffering from an almost fatal stroke last year. And while Fetterman has experienced depression “on and off” throughout his life, it became severe in recent weeks, according to his chief of staff Adam Jentleson.
Fetterman is not the first elected official to face mental health struggles; one out of five Americans experiences a mental illness every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Here are eight elected officials who have also publicly struggled with their mental health:
Kennedy, a former U.S. rep from Rhode Island, from Rhode Island, first publicly admitted to struggling with substance use and bipolar disorder in 2006. In May of that year, the congressman ran his car into a barricade outside the U.S. Capitol at 2:45 in the morning, under the mistaken belief that he was late for a vote.
The next day, Kennedy held a press conference and admitted to struggling with drug and alcohol addictions, as well as bipolar disorder.
Since, Kennedy has become a staunch advocate for mental health care and founded The Kennedy Forum, a nonprofit organization aimed at sparking national conversations about mental health and addiction.
On Thursday, Kennedy offered his support to Fetterman in a statement to The Hill: “I have deep respect for Senator Fetterman and admire the courageous example he set today.
