I too admire Senator Fetterman, it was brave and honest to embrace self-care as he did, to go public with his mental health issues. Both depression and anxiety are enormous issues, and as a whole we tend to practice avoidance and denial. Thanks for sharing your daily battle with anxiety, Chris. It is great for folks with a public audience to be candid about these things.
I just want you to know that your career has made a positive impact on me and many other people. The struggle is worth it for you, your family and so many others. Your (to me at least) realistic view on the political world (and shenanigans) has enriched the discourse. One foot at a time when times are tough. You go, guy!
I am a psychiatrist and think it is wonderful a public figure who happens to be my senator is so open about his struggles. The rest of show was also excellent. The senator was able to get state of art care ; many people with mental health diagnoses cannot. Our country needs to start to treat psychiatric illnesses with the same energy and money we treat serious medical illnesses. Btw, love the scene from Naked Gun .
Chris, thank you so much for this piece. I admire Fetterman for all of these reasons as well. I, too, have struggled with anxiety & depression and have struggled the last few weeks a lot. My son (31) has had ADHD & OCD but worked 5 years for the state for Child Protective Services. He saw some horrendous things and had a very tough time dealing with it. He was out on medical FMLA several times for intense therapy. He wound up with PTSD from the job. Finally, the fall of 2022 he got a new job but was still struggling a bit. My dad was 87 and didn’t want to be a burden on us as his health was starting to fail. He opted to commit suicide (gun) which sent my son down another spiral as he was very close with my dad. Another round of intense therapy with FMLA and he is now doing very well. He is on meds and still needs a therapist but doing very well. My point was, he was very worried about going out on his last FMLA in his new job. Would they hold it against him? Would people look at him differently? It was a difficult time for him. We pulled through as a family and 2024 will be a good year as he and his wife are expecting a baby boy! I tend to internalize everything, which isn’t good either.
multiple bouts of depression here. I worked for a three letter agency that didn't start worrying about mental health until the suicide rate among employees reached a high level. People woudn't seek help because they might lose their clearance. That fortunately has changed. I needed 4 months of twice weekly therapy to get out of my depression after my mom died. Life saver.
Hang in there Chris, everyone has good days, bad days, and the occasional really bad day.
Thanks. This is the first of your substacks that I will share, and I read just about all of them. Keep going. I’m sorry to hear the past few days were hard.
This year, I discovered I had fallen into depression. Surprise surprise, it had to do with my partner's passing from Parkinson's last February. I realized something was wrong when I started to worry that I wasn't producing the current manuscript for my next book in the way I usually do. I started reading over what was there and came to the horrid realization that it was disorganized crap! that has NEVER happened before. I spoke about it with my therapist and she said well of course I was depressed, I'd suffered a big loss. A psychiatrist recommended a mild antidepressant for a few months and Trazodone at night to help my sleep (sleep, what's that? said the old guy). It was literally like finding I had been driving around with a windshield so dirty I couldn't see 10 feet. The antidepressant ran its course and did its job; the Trazodone now leads to (mostly) good sleep, which works wonders on everything. And the Monday before Christmas I delivered the new manuscript, now properly organized and no longer crap. The first step is realizing you have a problem, and then not being afraid to mention it to someone who can help. It's a very insidious disease, there's no "gestation period," no obvious sign "Careful beyond this point." You know you have it when you say "My life is fucked up!"
I'm right there with you in anxiety issues, and I had a couple of panic attacks around the same age, which was about 1992 for me. I still did not seek help until 2000. I know now that this affected me as a child in the 80s, but people didn't discuss that. Compounded with my going to a private parochial school where they just paddled the kids with ADHD until their parents sent them to public school, but that was not me. I was just a ”quiet, shy” kid. It also led to me dropping out of college.
Getting just the tiniest help changed everything, but I was almost 30. Still, I essentially remade myself, dumping a depressing career in casino gaming, finishing college, and embarking on a career in science education. Mental health in schools should be a top priority.
I remember when Thomas Eagleton admitted to having depression and electroshock therapy. He'd been nominated to be McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election. After Eagleton's depression became public knowledge, he was forced to drop out and he just sort of faded away. He did keep his Senate seat, so I guess that's something.
This writing and your thoughts are excellent, appreciated, and definitely meet the moment in a shifting world. Thank you, and wising you (and everyone!) inner peace this year.
I'm still sorting out my feelings on Senator Fetterman. I am hoping beyond hope that he is simply an authentic dude of the kind we desperately need in congress. Party lines be damned. However, I occasionally get vibes that he his succumbing to the thrill of attention when bucks the system. That would be a disappointment and I hope I am reading him wrong.
Thanks, Chris, for this insightful article. Especially for being courageous enough to share your own struggles, just as Senator Fetterman has done. I am thinking about this article, and some articles toward the end of last year, when you were questioning your path and your purpose. It seems to me that this article exemplifies your purpose----to use your writing skills, your ability to write persuasively, coupled with your character and bent toward the good, to make a positive difference. Keep up the great work, and thank you!
Appreciate Senator Fetterman being open and honest able what he was going. Also appreciate you sharing your struggles. Sorry the past few days have been difficult for you.
The things that were said about Senator Fetterman on RWM outlets.. before, during, and after the election..we're shameful. It is sad that our society has devolved the way that it has. If we want to claw our way back to civilty, we first need to eviscerate the MAGA horde.
I too admire Senator Fetterman, it was brave and honest to embrace self-care as he did, to go public with his mental health issues. Both depression and anxiety are enormous issues, and as a whole we tend to practice avoidance and denial. Thanks for sharing your daily battle with anxiety, Chris. It is great for folks with a public audience to be candid about these things.
To know you are not alone is such a good feeling, isn't it? Sharing is helping.
Republicans are just cruel.
I just want you to know that your career has made a positive impact on me and many other people. The struggle is worth it for you, your family and so many others. Your (to me at least) realistic view on the political world (and shenanigans) has enriched the discourse. One foot at a time when times are tough. You go, guy!
I am a psychiatrist and think it is wonderful a public figure who happens to be my senator is so open about his struggles. The rest of show was also excellent. The senator was able to get state of art care ; many people with mental health diagnoses cannot. Our country needs to start to treat psychiatric illnesses with the same energy and money we treat serious medical illnesses. Btw, love the scene from Naked Gun .
Chris, thank you so much for this piece. I admire Fetterman for all of these reasons as well. I, too, have struggled with anxiety & depression and have struggled the last few weeks a lot. My son (31) has had ADHD & OCD but worked 5 years for the state for Child Protective Services. He saw some horrendous things and had a very tough time dealing with it. He was out on medical FMLA several times for intense therapy. He wound up with PTSD from the job. Finally, the fall of 2022 he got a new job but was still struggling a bit. My dad was 87 and didn’t want to be a burden on us as his health was starting to fail. He opted to commit suicide (gun) which sent my son down another spiral as he was very close with my dad. Another round of intense therapy with FMLA and he is now doing very well. He is on meds and still needs a therapist but doing very well. My point was, he was very worried about going out on his last FMLA in his new job. Would they hold it against him? Would people look at him differently? It was a difficult time for him. We pulled through as a family and 2024 will be a good year as he and his wife are expecting a baby boy! I tend to internalize everything, which isn’t good either.
multiple bouts of depression here. I worked for a three letter agency that didn't start worrying about mental health until the suicide rate among employees reached a high level. People woudn't seek help because they might lose their clearance. That fortunately has changed. I needed 4 months of twice weekly therapy to get out of my depression after my mom died. Life saver.
Hang in there Chris, everyone has good days, bad days, and the occasional really bad day.
Thanks. This is the first of your substacks that I will share, and I read just about all of them. Keep going. I’m sorry to hear the past few days were hard.
This year, I discovered I had fallen into depression. Surprise surprise, it had to do with my partner's passing from Parkinson's last February. I realized something was wrong when I started to worry that I wasn't producing the current manuscript for my next book in the way I usually do. I started reading over what was there and came to the horrid realization that it was disorganized crap! that has NEVER happened before. I spoke about it with my therapist and she said well of course I was depressed, I'd suffered a big loss. A psychiatrist recommended a mild antidepressant for a few months and Trazodone at night to help my sleep (sleep, what's that? said the old guy). It was literally like finding I had been driving around with a windshield so dirty I couldn't see 10 feet. The antidepressant ran its course and did its job; the Trazodone now leads to (mostly) good sleep, which works wonders on everything. And the Monday before Christmas I delivered the new manuscript, now properly organized and no longer crap. The first step is realizing you have a problem, and then not being afraid to mention it to someone who can help. It's a very insidious disease, there's no "gestation period," no obvious sign "Careful beyond this point." You know you have it when you say "My life is fucked up!"
I'm right there with you in anxiety issues, and I had a couple of panic attacks around the same age, which was about 1992 for me. I still did not seek help until 2000. I know now that this affected me as a child in the 80s, but people didn't discuss that. Compounded with my going to a private parochial school where they just paddled the kids with ADHD until their parents sent them to public school, but that was not me. I was just a ”quiet, shy” kid. It also led to me dropping out of college.
Getting just the tiniest help changed everything, but I was almost 30. Still, I essentially remade myself, dumping a depressing career in casino gaming, finishing college, and embarking on a career in science education. Mental health in schools should be a top priority.
I remember when Thomas Eagleton admitted to having depression and electroshock therapy. He'd been nominated to be McGovern's running mate in the 1972 presidential election. After Eagleton's depression became public knowledge, he was forced to drop out and he just sort of faded away. He did keep his Senate seat, so I guess that's something.
I thought about this, too. (I wasn't around yet when it happened, but I've read about it before.)
This writing and your thoughts are excellent, appreciated, and definitely meet the moment in a shifting world. Thank you, and wising you (and everyone!) inner peace this year.
I'm still sorting out my feelings on Senator Fetterman. I am hoping beyond hope that he is simply an authentic dude of the kind we desperately need in congress. Party lines be damned. However, I occasionally get vibes that he his succumbing to the thrill of attention when bucks the system. That would be a disappointment and I hope I am reading him wrong.
Thanks, Chris, for this insightful article. Especially for being courageous enough to share your own struggles, just as Senator Fetterman has done. I am thinking about this article, and some articles toward the end of last year, when you were questioning your path and your purpose. It seems to me that this article exemplifies your purpose----to use your writing skills, your ability to write persuasively, coupled with your character and bent toward the good, to make a positive difference. Keep up the great work, and thank you!
Appreciate Senator Fetterman being open and honest able what he was going. Also appreciate you sharing your struggles. Sorry the past few days have been difficult for you.
The things that were said about Senator Fetterman on RWM outlets.. before, during, and after the election..we're shameful. It is sad that our society has devolved the way that it has. If we want to claw our way back to civilty, we first need to eviscerate the MAGA horde.
Question Tottenham Spurs fan?
Seriously... I support and hope only for best for John. Such a strong inspirational man on the subject of depression