MORGANTOWN — Morgantown Deputy Mayor Mark Brazaitis said he was cleared and released by a psychiatrist at Pittsburgh’s Western Psychiatric Institute in about 15 minutes following a Monday night episode in which he was the focus of an overnight police search after a call for assistance from his residence.
Brazaitis offered comments at Wednesday’s Monongalia County Commission meeting and provided a copy of his discharge form for placement on the public record.
“If yelling at your daughters to grow up and support your dad, and banging on their bedroom door to emphasize the point, saying ‘I have a realistic chance of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate’ constitutes bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, and deserves to leave a city’s deputy mayor, and just as important, the Mason Dixon Figure Skating Club’s Vice President for Learn to Skate and the faculty adviser for WVU Figure Skating, in handcuffs for four hours — including a period in which he had to feed himself breakfast — there’s something wrong with this picture. You don’t know what bipolar disorder is,” he said.
On Monday morning, Brazaitis announced his plan to take on Democrat incumbent Joe Manchin and Republican Patrick Morrisey as a write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate.
He went on to say Morgantown is far behind Pittsburgh in how it treats mental health issues.
“It’s going to take us here, in Morgantown, a lot longer to figure out how to treat people with mental health issues, which is frankly the vast majority of our population, with respect and dignity,” Brazaitis said.
