Gingrich: Dean's Panic Attacks Probably Not an Issue

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Friday that presidential front-runner Howard Dean's history of panic attacks and past treatment for an anxiety disorder probably should not be a campaign issue.

Asked if Dean's account to People magazine this week detailing his problem was something voters should be concerned about, Gingrich told radio host Sean Hannity, "I think if what you're dealing with is the process of somebody learning how to deal with stress or those kind of normal things - I don't think so."

On the other hand, said Gingrich, "If it turned out that [Dean] had the kind of mental illness which involves wild swings in mood or uncontrollable behavior, that would be a different issue."

"That might medically disqualify him," he added.

In an exchange buried in a lengthy interview with People, the Democratic presidential front-runner revealed that when he was lieutenant governor of Vermont, he had a panic attack upon hearing that Gov. Richard Snelling had died, thereby making him governor.

"I hyperventilated and I started hyperventilating and I thought, You better stop that or you won't be much good to anybody," Dean recalled.

He explained his reaction to the news of Snelling's death by saying, "To suddenly get told that you have responsibility for 600,000 people — it provokes a little anxiety."

Dean's history of anxiety attacks goes back to the early 1980s, when he said he sought counseling for the problem.

"I was just anxious and I didn't know why," the Democratic front-runner explained.

"[The counseling] wasn't easy," Dean said. "You've got to work and you've got to uncover things that matter to you. And of course, we talked a lot about my father and all that other stuff."

Dean also told People that he still sometimes needs sleeping pills to sleep at night.

Ruth Ann Dwyer, who twice challenged Dean for the governor's seat, said Thursday that she remembered her opponent as "pretty tightly wound" and "paranoid."

"I always felt he was paranoid," she told "Hannity & Colmes." "He's always got a chip on his shoulder. And he can't take any kind of criticism, even if it's legitimate."

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2004 Elections