ILLINOIS: Wife Of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Discusses His Depression Hospitalization

After speculations about a suicide attempt and Republican demands that he explain his long absence from Congress, yesterday the wife of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) lifted her family's "news blackout" on his condition. Jackson's whereabouts had been undisclosed for almost two months and only last week was it revealed that he is at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic.

In an exclusive interview, Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) walked [Sun-Times reporter Michael] Sneed through the dark days since her husband’s “collapse.” She also dispelled rumors that her husband, who is being treated for depression at Mayo Clinic, attempted suicide or was receiving help for alcohol and drug addiction. “No, no, none of that is true,” said Sandi Jackson, who has been at the helm of her husband’s health care since he collapsed on June 10 at their home in Washington, D.C. Ald. Jackson, who has spent the past month traveling from home to hospital to work, also provided a dramatic timeline for the congressman’s stunning absence, which netted sympathy and . . . criticism. “His collapse was D-Day for us,” said Sandi Jackson, who tells Sneed her husband had become “completely debilitated by depression.” She also claims the congressman’s world since June 10 has been immersed in a “news blackout.

Jackson is scheduled to appear at the Democratic Convention next month, but his wife said that decision is in the hands of his doctors.