Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Says He Suffers From Depression

Back in March, a Republican lawmaker from New Jersey appeared to vanish from Congress and the campaign trail with no reported explanation. In fact, it wasn’t until his absence became too noticeable to ignore that it was reported he was attending to medical needs. Well, now, GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. has announced he was diagnosed with depression and had been absent all of these months due to an extended stay at the hospital.

And as great as it is that anyone suffering from depression is on their road to recovery, one can’t help but wonder — could just anyone get away with that?

From CBS News:

Kean, who is running for a third term in a competitive district, last voted on March 5 and has missed more than 140 votes as House GOP leaders try to advance their legislative priorities with little room to spare. 

Kean said he initially entered the hospital for testing due to health concerns when he was given the diagnosis and doctors recommended that he remain in the hospital to address the illness. 

“Now, when people hear the word ‘depression,’ many people think … it means feeling sad, but depression is so much more than that. It is physical, it is emotional, and until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be,” he said. 

During the hospital stay, Kean said he “began to understand not only my diagnosis, but how long depression had been affecting my life.” 

Kean added that “there is no timeline for healing, there is no timeline for recovery, only the work of getting better one day at a time.”

Again, it’s great that Kean is taking care of himself and can openly discuss his diagnosis, but there’s a bit of irony here that simply can’t be ignored.

First, there’s the glaring fact that white conservative America isn’t exactly a culture where important and nuanced discussions on depression, mental health and various disorders are fostered the way they’re constantly brought to the forefront in progressive communities that are often dismissed as cesspools of whatever right-leaning people think “woke” is.

Beyond that, can you imagine if Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, suddenly stopped showing up to work with no explanation, then came back months later and explained he was absent due to depression? Worse yet, could you imagine if it were Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, or Ayanna Pressley who up and disappeared the way Kean did? These are Black and brown women who are constant targets of racism, misogyny and xenophobia that just gets normalized no matter how blatant and vicious it is; no one in the GOP is responding kindly if any of them failed to show up, let alone with no notice or explanation.

I mean, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles couldn’t even skip major sporting events to take care of their mental health without receiving widespread (and largely white-spread) ridicule for doing so. Imagine if they were congressional leaders.

All I’m saying is, while mental health is important, this is an example of white men being given room to prioritize themselves and still fail up that others aren’t privileged enough to receive.

Must be nice.

SEE ALSO:

Black People Deserve More Than Confidence Disguised As Care

Young Black Men’s Suicide Rates Surpasses Young White Men’s For The 1st Time

White GOP Rep Who Disappeared From Duties Says He Suffers Depression was originally published on newsone.com