This week, Senator John Fetterman voluntarily sought treatment for clinical depression, The Washington Post reported, prompting a wave of support from colleagues, and signaling a turning point in the way public office seekers talk about mental health.

In 1972, admitting that he had been hospitalized for depression and had sought electroshock therapy ended Senator Thomas Eagleton’s presidential hopes. As The Washington Post noted, “For decades, politicians said a 1972 presidential campaign served as a cautionary tale: Reveal your mental health struggles at your own risk.”

Even as late as 2019, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts feared that disclosing the PTSD he developed while serving as a Marine in Iraq would doom his political career. “This was my greatest secret that I didn’t share with anyone in politics, because I was afraid of stories like Senator [Thomas] Eagleton,” Moulton admitted.

But the tide is turning. Each public figure who shares their challenges openly helps destigmatize mental health. When the freshman senator disclosed that he had checked himself into a hospital to treat clinical depression, support was widespread:

“There is never any weakness in seeking help,” tweeted Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), another Iraq War veteran in Congress. Gallego has shared his own experiences with post-traumatic stress after his tour in Iraq and also after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who’s spoken out about her own lifetime battle with depression, agreed that Fetterman was displaying strength, “not weakness.”

In 2019, Smith spoke on the Senate floor about her experience with depression – first in college and then again when she was a young mother – while advocating for legislation to get more mental health resources in schools.

At the time, she acknowledged that despite the lingering stigma “that you’ll be difficult to work with, [that] they can’t count on you,” she felt it was even more important to discuss and normalize depression. Her transparency gives permission to others, as young people now approach her to thank her for “giving them permission” to share their stories and get help. “I realized there was a power about being open and honest,” Smith said.

Experts could not agree more. Charles Nemeroff, head of Dell Medical School’s department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UT Austin, praised Fetterman for helping normalize mental health challenges by speaking openly. “I was very impressed with the fact that instead of trying to cover it up and go to a private treatment facility under an alias, that [Fetterman] and his family decided to fundamentally come out about it and fundamentally legitimize it as a medical disorder,” said Nemeroff, also president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).

Senator Eagleton’s wife Barbara praised Fetterman for his transparency and wished him well. She also noted the shift that had occurred in the 50 years since her husband’s experience.

“Folks,” she summed up, “are just a little more used to these things.”

Read the full article here.

Edwards, Jonathan and Somasundaram, Praveena. “50 years ago, depression ended a campaign. That’s changed, politicians say.” The Washington Post, 17 Feb 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/17/fetterman-depression-thomas-eagleton/.

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