Francesca Hong’s past comments about her mental health are drawing renewed attention as the Democratic Socialist continues to lead polling in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.
A 2023 interview Hong gave to Meal Magazine resurfaced over the weekend, prompting renewed discussion over whether voters should know more about the treatment and management of a candidate seeking the governor’s office.
Speaking with Meal Magazine, Hong recounted a mental health crisis she experienced at age 18, saying she was hospitalized after what she described as a breakdown.
“At 18, I had a mental breakdown. I didn’t actually walk at my high school graduation because I had been hospitalized for a week at a child psychiatric hospital. I just felt like nothing had meaning anymore. It was a numbness that took over, and a pain that I couldn’t describe. I couldn’t feel anymore, and that scared the hell out of me. And I found myself self-harming to feel something,” Hong told Meal Magazine.
When asked whether she had been cutting herself, Hong responded, “It was cutting. I was diagnosed with bipolar disease. I was taking SSRIs and I’d overdosed on lithium. I didn’t know why I couldn’t connect with people deeper, and that pushes you into isolation.”
In a separate interview with Voice of America, Hong claimed that the root of her mental struggles was her Korean identity.
Francesca Hong and her parents discuss her mental health hospitalization on Voice Of America, a US propaganda program.
Francesca is running for Governor of Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/h3YxdOctVL
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Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that can involve episodes of depression and periods of elevated mood or mania. Symptoms and severity vary from person to person, and many people with the condition can manage it with treatment.
The interview resurfaced online over the weekend, with some arguing that voters should know about Hong’s condition if she is elected to public office.
Journalist Michael Shellenberger said in a post to X, “Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness and is highly treatable with lithium. So while I don’t think it’s necessarily disqualifying, voters deserve to know if @FrancescaHongWI is receiving professional care and what it is. It should be disqualifying if she refuses to say.”
Another user said, “It’s a lifelong condition. Sympathetic but 100% disqualifying for the role of Governor.”
Francesca Hong, a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is currently leading polls in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. She has previously said she wants to defund and abolish the police, abolish the U.S. Senate, and abolish ICE.
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