“Hospitalization doesn’t necessarily say anything about his future condition,” said Will Cronenwet, chief of general psychiatry at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Hospitalization does not end a career, it allows a person to regain lost function.”
According to Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, data show that Fetterman has a 70% to 90% chance of making a full recovery. That doesn’t mean he won’t need to continue on medication or treatment afterwards, but perhaps he will be free of his symptoms of depression and return to normal functioning.
“Many people have been able to stay healthy off drugs,” he said.
Fetterman, D-Pa., 53, stole a Republican Senate seat in November despite suffering a fatal stroke in May. On Thursday, he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of clinical depression. He had just returned to Congress on Monday after being hospitalized last week with complaints of lightheadedness, and doctors ruled out a second stroke for him.
Fetterman still suffers from auditory processing problems, making it difficult for him to hear and pick up words, especially against background noise.
Senior National Security Advisor Fetterman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private details of the senator’s situation, said there is no definite timeline but Fetterman could be hospitalized for several weeks.
The aide said Fetterman’s dizziness last week was likely due to malnutrition and dehydration. I have come to understand that it is a side effect.
The aide said Fetterman was “deeply not himself” in the days that followed, and after consulting with Congressional physician Brian P. Monaghan, he needed to check himself into the hospital. I decided.
About a third of stroke survivors develop depressive symptoms such as sadness, loss of appetite, low energy and social withdrawal, but only a minority are hospitalized, according to experts.
Gordon said the organic component of post-stroke depression cannot be overlooked.
“There are studies that show that stroke-induced depression tends to be more severe compared to all other forms of depression,” he said.
Fetterman’s acknowledgment of the need for mental health care has been greeted with mostly expressions of sympathy and encouragement from both sides of the aisle, indicating a significant reduction in stigma regarding such issues.
“Millions of people struggle with depression every day, often privately,” President Biden tweeted on Friday. “Getting the care you need is brave and important. Thank you for setting an example.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose wife publicly revealed his depression during the 2016 presidential election, said on Twitter Thursday: Mental illness is real and serious and I hope he gets the care he needs. ”
On Friday, Fetterman’s campaign team sent supporters an email requesting donations to the National Psychiatric Alliance and the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers Association. They promised to donate his 100% of the donation to the group.
Experts say the decision to hospitalize patients with clinical depression is often based on the severity and duration of their symptoms, insurance coverage, and whether they are at risk to themselves.
Once there, like many outpatients, they are likely to be treated with medication, talk therapy, and support. and are there to adjust medications and provide talk therapy more often than others, so they are safer and faster. I have.
According to Cronenwett, one of the main goals of hospital treatment is to help patients develop coping skills and resilience by confronting the hopelessness associated with depression. Feeling trapped without a way out is a hallmark of the disease, he said.
Doctors will also focus on teaching patients to get some sleep, reduce stress and resume health-promoting activities and interests, he said. he said.
“We doctors want our patients to be discharged as soon as possible so they can return to their situation,” said Cronenwett.
E. Alison Holman, a professor of nursing and psychological sciences at the University of California, Irvine, said his consent to need inpatient treatment is a positive sign for Fetterman. People who suffer from severe depression often lack that insight, she said.
“The fact that he checked in is proof that it doesn’t apply to him,” she said.
Some stroke survivors described debilitating depression following physical loss and mental recovery in addition to physical recovery.
Kansas City radio personality Dennis Opalka, better known as Dennis St. John, spent 18 months from a wheelchair to a cane after a stroke.
Walking a few steps through a rehab hospital in an ambulance after a fall, Opalka said, “I’m starting to regret surviving the stroke… when you start having thoughts like that, you get pretty dark.”
Counseling along with physical therapy helped him begin to find his way.
“In the first session, I moaned,” he said. “After a couple of sessions, I start to repair myself. I was working hard to walk.”
After suffering three strokes around Christmas 2014, Lee Stroy, a stroke survivor in Stafford, Virginia, said his recovery from depression was slow.
“It led to major depression,” Stroy said. He was 38 and said, “That guy walking around with a cane. I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t be around my kids because the loud noise gave me migraines.” is hard to stop going to Negative Town.”
His wife persuaded him to see a psychiatrist and he was prescribed antidepressants. “It’s not just one pill and his one treatment session,” Stroy says. “It’s a lifestyle commitment.”
Currently, he is working full-time again as a basketball coach at Brook Point High School in Stafford and is training to become a guidance counselor. He lost his cane, walked with a limp, and taught himself, “Well, everyone has their own problems.”
His stroke “allowed me to see life in a different light,” he said.
