I was admittedly pretty shocked to see the reports that newly elected senator John Fetterman checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last week to treat his severe depression.
On the one hand, the cause of a depression onset this severe seems pretty clear; it's a common aftershock of a stroke, which Fetterman very publicly suffered from in May.
But on the other hand, the cause really shouldn't matter. It's irrelevant to the topic. If you're dealing with severe depression, you deserve treatment. Full stop. For as much progress as we've made in normalizing mental health struggles, I think we Americans still far too often operate off this notion that if you're physically ill, you're unlucky, but if you're mentally ill, you're weak.
I have major respect for Fetterman for taking this step in his treatment. He knows that this news story is unfairly going to be an ankle weight on any future steps he takes in his political career, and it's great to see someone in a position of power face that proposition and decide, "My wellness is worth it."
And hey, the fact that maybe this won't kill his career entirely is an indication of just how far we've come in this fight already. I look forward to a future where this doesn't have to be a front-page story.
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