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State leaders hope Wu gets help for alleged psychiatric needs

by Sara Jerome - 02/20/11 5:53 PM ET

Following a report that the staff of Rep. David Wu
(D-Ore.) encouraged him to seek psychiatric care, Oregon lawmakers are
saying they hope he gets the help he needs.

“Before everybody starts playing the political
parlor games, someone should figure out if he needs help,” said state
Sen. Mark Hass, according to the Portland Oregonian.

Citing unnamed sources, the Oregonian reported
Friday that top staffers assembled an intervention meeting for Wu at his
campaign headquarters in October, including his psychiatrist by speakerphone. The staffers hoped he would enter a hospital for psychiatric
care.

At least six members of Wu’s staff resigned after
he won reelection, along with his campaign pollster and fundraiser,
according to the paper.

Wu said in a
statement Friday that he was “not always at my best with staff or
constituents” and that he sought “professional medical care.”

“Some of my stress was derived from a very tough
campaign, but I was also dealing with raising two children alone and the
death of my father,” Wu wrote.

“I fully
acknowledge that I could have dealt with these difficult circumstances
better, and I remain focused on being a good father to my children and a
strong representative for the people of Oregon,” the statement
continued.

The staffers reported concern following allegedly
erratic behavior, including unusual public speeches and messages
delivered from his House of Representatives e-mail account. In another
incident, he talked himself through security at an airport to meet his
kids at the gate, despite not having a ticket.

Wu has been staying out of public view since the reports began, but the story has caught hold in the media.

“A
woman at his Capitol Hill home refused to take a message for him from a
reporter and turned out the lights when she saw the reporter outside
the house later,” the Oregonian reported.

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