Fetterman says he assumed speaking publicly about his mental health ‘would be the end of my career’

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said in an interview that aired Sunday that he believed opening up to the public about his mental health struggles earlier this year would negatively impact his career.

In an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” Fetterman opened up about his battle with clinical depression earlier this year and urged those facing mental health issues to seek help. He said that for the first couple of weeks while being treated for depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he felt scared about sharing his experiences publicly.

“Well, when— when it got released where I was and where it was going, it was — it was a big story,” he said. “And so, I had assumed that that would be the end of my career. And I don’t know what that — what kind of impact that would have on my family or anything, so I — I really didn’t know what would happen at that point.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) arrives to the Capitol on April 17 after spending the past six weeks treating clinical depression. (Greg Nash)

Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed in February to be treated for clinical depression — a condition that he says got worse after winning his election in 2022. He said that he could not get himself out of bed at the time and explained how he did not want to go to Washington, D.C., in January 2023 for his congressional orientation.

He told Welker that he ultimately decided to check himself in for treatment because he began to have “dark conversations” with himself about self-harm. He mentioned that a colleague of his took her own life the day before the interview, adding that he hopes he can help others by speaking up about his own struggles.

“And it would be my goal is to — if — if somebody could hear this kind of a message and this conversation that we’re having might make a different choice,” he said. “And that’s why — I’m sure I never thought at any point in my life that it would be a career boon to talk about these kinds of topics.”

“But I — I wanted to be fully honest and to let everybody — if they’re being honest about themselves, if they’re living in a blue county or a red county, either it’s themselves, or they know somebody or love somebody that struggle from this kind of an issue,” he continued.