The Hill’s Changemakers: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)

Sen. John Fetterman has faced health struggles publicly since before he even took office, and now his openness about his depression has altered how Capitol Hill is approaching mental health concerns.  

The Pennsylvania Democrat has been back at the Capitol since April after checking himself into the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a month and a half, a decision he credits with saving his life. At the time, Fetterman was balancing recovery from his 2022 stroke and trying to get up to speed with Senate life, having only been sworn in weeks earlier.  

Now, Fetterman is noticeably in a different space. Out are the suits, gaunt frame and stilted conversations. In are his hoodie and shorts and easy-going attitude and banter, which have been increasingly on display in recent months.  

He says the dread he felt reached the point where he had trouble getting out of bed to attend his swearing-in and couldn’t “derive any kind of comfort from anything.” 

“I was in agony when I first came in. It took everything I had to just make it to orientation,” Fetterman told The Hill. “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I really couldn’t even eat.” 

He added that doing a postmortem of his campaign contributed to his issues, saying that he made “the really bad mistake” of reading social media and articles from then.  

“I was struck by the cruelty,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Where does that come from? … Is this what my life is going to be like? Is it going to be this kind of brutal?’” 

The support he received after checking into the hospital has touched him, and he is intent on giving back, having joined the Senate Mental Health Caucus that launched in October and speaking out whenever possible. 

“People bring up to me almost on the regular about how important it was for them to hear that people were talking about it or that they’ve been helped by that conversation and they have chosen to get help,” Fetterman said. “I’m going to keep having that conversation as well. … I have a duty and a privilege to talk about it.”