I am both sorry for and grateful to John Fetterman for his honesty around checking into Walter Reed for treatment of severe depression. It took courage to tell the truth of his situation, at the risk of being seen as weak, which is sadly still a probability in our society. Anyone who has dealt with severe depression, as a victim, or as a loving observer, will understand the courage it takes to face a bout of clinical depression.
I come from a family that has wrestled with the twin forces of severe depression and life in politics. My great uncle Thruston Morton, a U.S. senator representing Kentucky in the ’50s and ‘60s, suffered from depression. In an era when medicine held out little hope, Thruston managed to serve the country, with tight-lipped grit and endurance.
Only the bravest of us would willingly volunteer to be the poster child for clinical depression. I don’t imagine that John Fetterman sees himself as any such hero. But I see him, on the part of my good family, as a truth-speaker, and am grateful for his transparency.
Johns Hopkins estimates that approximately 9.5% of American adults will suffer a depressive illness every year, a segment of the population that has been historically, shamefully underserved. And, whereas some might mistakenly view John Fetterman as unfit to serve. I would say, quite to the contrary, that he is perfectly fit to serve.
Margaret Dulaney Balitsaris, Tinicum
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