--- title: John Fetterman Hospitalized for Depression: What We Know description: The Pennsylvania Senator survived a stroke in May and was hospitalized earlier this month after feeling lightheaded. canonical: https://time.com/6256348/john-fetterman-depression-hospitalized/ author: Mini Racker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-02-16T20:30:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-11T20:53:22.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: John Fetterman Hospitalized for Depression: What We Know og:description: The Pennsylvania Senator survived a stroke in May and was hospitalized earlier this month after feeling lightheaded. og:url: https://time.com/6256348/john-fetterman-depression-hospitalized/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04d2885125b0164a/698a3a6cd075334e11e6dc33/John-Fetterman-hospitalized-depression.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: State of the Union 2023 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Fetterman Hospitalized for Depression: What We Know twitter:description: The Pennsylvania Senator survived a stroke in May and was hospitalized earlier this month after feeling lightheaded. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt04d2885125b0164a/698a3a6cd075334e11e6dc33/John-Fetterman-hospitalized-depression.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Fetterman Checked Himself Into the Hospital for Clinical Depression. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1b325cbb-9e8d-40d3-8e17-0a4ded5e6286&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: John Fetterman Beats Dr. Mehmet Oz, Flips Pennsylvania Senate Seat [Watch (HLS stream): John Fetterman Beats Dr. Mehmet Oz, Flips Pennsylvania Senate Seat](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XkyhYemO.m3u8) (0:52)  _Published 2022-11-09. Democrat John Fetterman beat Trump-backed Republican celebrity television doctor Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race, flipping control of the seat currently held by Republican Pat Toomey, who is retiring. It’s a key pickup for Democrats, who are inching closer to retaining the Senate in what many originally expected to be a bruising midterm election for the party._  by [Mini Racker](https://time.com/author/mini-racker/)  ## Mini Racker Updated: Dec 11, 2023 8:53 PM UTCPublished: Feb 16, 2023 8:30 PM UTC Democrat John Fetterman beat Trump-backed Republican celebrity television doctor Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race, flipping control of the seat currently held by Republican Pat Toomey, who is retiring. It’s a key pickup for Democrats, who are inching closer to retaining the Senate in what many originally expected to be a bruising midterm election for the party.  by [Mini Racker](https://time.com/author/mini-racker/)  ## Mini Racker Updated: Dec 11, 2023 8:53 PM UTCPublished: Feb 16, 2023 8:30 PM UTC [Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman](https://time.com/6231291/how-fetterman-won-pennsylvania-senate-seat/) has checked himself into the hospital to receive treatment for clinical depression. In a statement, Fetterman’s chief of staff Adam Jentleson said: “While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks.” Fetterman was evaluated on Monday by the attending physician for Congress, who recommended on Wednesday that the senator receive inpatient care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the statement said. The senator checked himself into the hospital Wednesday night. “After examining John, the doctors at Walter Reed told us that John is getting the care he needs, and will soon be back to himself.” ## Fetterman’s stroke and other health challenges Fetterman checked himself into a different hospital Feb. 8 after experiencing light-headedness, a visit which received particular scrutiny because Fetterman [survived a stroke last May](https://time.com/6221778/john-fetterman-closed-captioning-stroke/). Doctors at the hospital last week ruled out the possibility of another stroke. [Experts who spoke to TIME](https://time.com/6254289/john-fetterman-hospitalized/) suggested that lightheadedness is a common symptom that could be connected to the Senator’s chronic heart issues or to numerous other manageable causes. Fetterman was released from the hospital on Friday and returned to the Senate on Monday. The Senator’s stroke last May left him with auditory processing issues that sometimes make it difficult for him to understand speech. During his first few weeks in Congress, the Senate Sergeant at Arms furnished him with new closed-captioning technology to help him manage those difficulties, the [details of which were first reported by TIME](https://time.com/6251752/john-fetterman-stroke-recovery-assistive-technology/). The senator has spoken little to reporters as his office determines the best way for him to take questions. He could be seen briefly using an electronic tablet while attending President Biden’s State of the Union speech last Tuesday night. The _New York Times_ [reported last week](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/us/politics/john-fetterman-senate-stroke.html?) that Fetterman’s stroke left him with “serious mental health challenges that have rendered the transition extraordinarily challenging.” ## Fetterman on mental health care Fetterman has spoken in the past about the need to bolster the mental health support provided to Pennsylvanians, including in 2017, soon after he declared his ultimately successful candidacy for Lieutenant Governor. That November, he [spoke at Erie’s Mental Health Association, saying](https://www.goerie.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/18/fetterman-discusses-lt-gov-candidacy/16997431007/), “I came here because mental-health services are so critical for people all over the commonwealth and, in my opinion, they aren’t always the kind of priority they should be.” Few politicians speak openly about their own mental health struggles. In fact, Senator Thomas Eagleton, who was briefly Democrats’ 1972 Vice Presidential nominee, withdrew from the ticket after news broke that he had received electroshock therapy for clinical depression. [According to the American Stroke Association](https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke/effects-of-stroke/emotional-effects-of-stroke/depression-and-stroke#:~:text=Depression%20is%20a%20common%20experience,to%20the%20losses%20from%20stroke.), depression is common among stroke survivors. General rates of depression have spiked during the pandemic as well. A letter released by Fetterman’s doctor in October following the stroke confirmed that he could perform his duties as senator as he continued to recover. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6256348/john-fetterman-depression-hospitalized/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6256348/john-fetterman-depression-hospitalized/"},"headline":"John Fetterman Checked Himself Into the Hospital for Clinical Depression. 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