Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., the Chicago Democrat and son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, has become "completely debilitated by depression," his wife, Sandi, told the Chicago Sun-Times in an interview published Saturday.
Giving more details on the condition that led to his leave of absence (early in July, it was announced that Jackson was struggling with "physical and emotional ailments"), Sandi, a Chicago City Council member, said that contrary to rumors, her husband did not try to kill himself and was not being treated for alcohol or drug addiction. She also discussed the possible role of a weight-loss procedure in contributing to his condition.
From the Washington Post:
Sandi Jackson said her husband collapsed at their home in Washington on June 10 while she was in Chicago.
"His collapse was D-Day for us," she told Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed, adding that her husband had become "completely debilitated by depression."
The congressman's father and his brother Yusef took him to George Washington hospital, she said.
"He called and told me not to worry, but it was obvious he was suffering from a form of depression," Mrs. Jackson said. "So Yusef took him at my suggestion to the Sierra Tucson Treatment Center in Arizona, where they specialize in mental health."
She said it was there that a question arose about whether the depression could be "due to a lack of nutrients" and linked to a 2004 procedure he underwent to help him lose weight.
Read more at the Washington Post.