Supporting pedophiles must really take a toll.

maybe he went through an "are we the baddies?" realization

Private person by nature, yet somehow holding public office, but not performing the duties expected of someone holding that position. A representative, who somehow does not manage to represent. smh.

Party of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” won’t like that.

People can get sick, but generally if you were incapacitated for months you'd make some arrangement to handle your responsibilities, or in a case like this step back so someone else can take the role.

It's nice that politician selfishness and ego provided us with a missing Republican vote during that time though.

I suppose making everyone's life worse has its toll.

Depression is code for he had a mental breakdown.

Y'all. This man was dealing with depression, is public about it, and is reducing the stigma around it by being open about it. And y'all have nothing but ableist platitudes because he's a republican? God that's so fucked and some shameful hyperpartisan bullshit. I'm sick of republican bullshit, too. You know, the republican bullshit of downplaying mental health, denying things like depression exist, resisting treatment personally and for others, perpetuating stigma of men suffering depression by telling them to "man up", etc. And you know what? When a republican learns to fight all that bullshit, I fucking welcome it. How the fuck do y'all expect the world to become a better place when you reject good things happening? A republican doesn't wake up one day and say "ah beans, I really should stop supporting evil and oppressive policies by empowering the already rich and powerful and focus on tearing down systems of oppression built by previous legislators". The change starts with shit like this.

My real surprises were that it was depression, not addiction, and that it was a hospital and not a snake oil "clinic" in another country