Kennedy tells of illness, treatment

Friday, March 3rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WOONSOCKET -- U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy yesterday said he has suffered bouts of depression since his adolescence, regularly consults a psychiatrist, and takes an antidepressant medication he declined to name.

Kennedy said he publicly disclosed his illness in the hope that it would help remove some of the stigma from mental illness in American society and lead other people who are depressed to seek professional help.

The 32-year-old congressman's remarks came at a mental-health forum for the elderly hosted by him and Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, at the Woonsocket Senior Citizens Center. Mrs. Gore is one of the very few people in political life who have acknowledged receiving treatment for depression. (Mrs. Gore said she suffered from depression years ago, while her son was recovering from a near-fatal auto accident.)

A ripple of gentle laughter coursed through the crowd of about 250 when Kennedy briefly mentioned that he had received professional mental health treatment years ago. ``Oh my God, it's out,'' Kennedy said, prompting the laughter. ``That's another skeleton in the closet.''

Standing just a few feet away, Mrs. Gore congratulated Kennedy for the admission, calling him ``another profile in courage,'' a reference to Profiles in Courage , a book written by Kennedy's uncle, John F. Kennedy, about political figures who took unpopular but courageous stands on various issues in American politics.

After the event, Kennedy discussed his depression and treatment in some detail, but declined to name either the psychiatrist he sees weekly or the antidepressant medication he takes.

``I hope that my admission that I get help and that it makes me a stronger person and Tipper's admission and others who are coming out will help make more people realize that there is nothing to be ashamed of,'' Kennedy said.

``For purposes of breaking the stigma, I have no problem in saying that I do [get treatment]. It should be treated as a private issue like anything else, but for purpose of breaking the stigma, I have no problem saying that,'' Kennedy said.
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`Obviously, my family has suffered a lot of tragedies,'' Kennedy said. ``In my life as a public figure, it's not always easy, you know, for me to spill the beans, if you will, with someone that I have to worry about telling other folks. So for me, it really helps to have someone who is protected by professional confidence.''

Kennedy said his public position makes him wary of sharing his hopes and fears with friends.

``I'm in a unique position. Because you know other people can just tell their friends and it's not a big deal. But if I started telling my friends what I was worried about and what I was thinking about this and that, it may end up in the tabloid newspaper,'' Kennedy said.

A tabloid news report was precisely how the story broke of Kennedy's youthful stay in a New Hampshire drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic. In 1991, the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer quoted a patient who said he was with Kennedy in therapy at the Spofford Hall rehab clinic in Spofford, N.H. The story broke during the Palm Beach rape trial of his cousin, William Kennedy Smith, who was acquitted.

At that time, Kennedy acknowledged a ``substance abuse'' problem -- the Enquirer said he had a cocaine problem -- while he was a student in 1986 at Phillips Academy, a prestigious preparatory school in Andover, Mass.

A Kennedy spokeman, Larry Berman, said yesterday that no tabloid news outlet had been ``hounding us'' for the Kennedy-in-therapy story. Kennedy made a fleeting reference to seeking mental health treatment during an appearance at Cumberland High School last year, but no reporters at the event followed up on it.

Kennedy said yesterday he did not believe his constituents would be surprised at his disclosure.

``The constituents already knew about it in a manner of speaking. They knew I had substance-abuse problems. That's not a mystery. They also know if they have read the paper in the last several years . . . that my family has had a lot of trials and tribulations.

``And I don't think it would be a surprise to any of them to know that with all that I've been through that it makes sense that I get the professional support that I need to cope with that. I think that's something that I'm happy to talk about. I thought today's event gave me an opportunity to highlight this issue where it could get the the proper disclosure rather than in some tabloid magazine or something like
that.''

Yesterday, Kennedy said he started getting psychotherapy around the same time he sought help for drug abuse. Adolescence was not ``an easy time'' for him.

He said the therapy went ``hand in hand with the substance-abuse problem.''

``Obviously,'' Kennedy said yesterday, ``I went to look for answers in ways that weren't helpful to me, and that's why I ended up in treatment. So, quite frankly, unfortunately too many people don't get the treatment and then they end up doing like I did and that is pursue wrong answers for the depression, like I did. I was lucky to get the treatment.''

While it started with difficulties during adolescence, Kennedy said yesterday he has continued psychotherapy weekly, when he can schedule it.

Asked why he continues to get therapy, Kennedy replied: ``So I can stay strong. I'm stressed to the max. I have enormous responsibilities. I run all over the place. And, you know what, I'm a stronger person because I get to be able to talk about it in a confidential setting.''

``I'm very lucky to have good health maintenance so I don't slip into problems like I had before. That's why I continue to get ongoing therapy. It doesn't make any sense to think that oh, well you can just move on.''

His mother, Joan Bennett Kennedy, stood only about a dozen feet away during the interview. She applauded her son's ``honesty.''
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`I think it's wonderful,'' she said.

Joan Kennedy, whose battle with alcoholism has been well-documented, acknowledged that she, too, had suffered from depression.

She said in a brief interview that she underwent psychoanalysis and took antidepressants but said she no longer does.