U.S. Rep Jesse Jackson Jr. has been released from the Mayo Clinic and has returned to his home after being treated for depression.
In a statement that was released Friday, Jackson’s chief of staff said “He’s at home in Washington convalescing with his wife and children and remains hopeful that he will return to work when congress goes back into session on Monday.”
Jackson had not been on Capitol Hill since May after suffering what his office initially called a “medical condition” that was later confirmed to be bipolar depression.
Jesse Jackson Sr. became aware of his son’s issues earlier this summer during a visit to DC.
The congressman’s father — the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a well-known civil rights leader — told The Huffington Post last month that when he visited his son in Washington in June, he learned the junior Jackson hadn’t slept for three days.
What the family thought was exhaustion, the elder Jackson said, was “something much deeper, much broader, and it lasted longer.”
Friends close to Jackson suspect that stress may have triggered his depression. Some believe that one of the main factors was a House Ethics Committee investigation that alleged misconduct by Jackson in 2008 when Gov. Rod Blagojevich was attempting to win the Senate seat that was vacated by Barack Obama when he was elected president.
Another factor in Jackson’s depression could be the gastric bypass surgery that he underwent in 2004. Medical experts are looking into whether or not that procedure played a part in his illness.
