AUSTIN — The mental condition of state Sen. Dan Patrick, front-runner in the GOP runoff for lieutenant governor, became the key issue Friday in the already acrimonious race, as medical records leaked by opponents show he was hospitalized twice in the 1980s, once after a suicide attempt, and received treatment for severe depression and anxiety.

The new documents counter Patrick's claim that he was treated for mild depression and exhaustion.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a former GOP rival in the primary race, said he released the records over the objections of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who sought to distance himself from the attacks following criticism by fellow Republicans about the medical disclosures just days before early voting begins for the May 27 runoff.

Patterson has endorsed Dewhurst.

Patrick said Patterson and Dewhurst were sinking “deeper into the mire, lowering themselves further into the gutter. ... They have achieved a new low.”

Some political observers predicted repercussions for Dewhurst.

“If anything, David Dewhurst is only ensuring that Dan Patrick will win by a larger margin that he might have otherwise,” said Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor. “This information humanizes Dan Patrick. I think the blowback against David Dewhurst over this will be pretty significant.”

On Thursday, court documents from a 1987 lawsuit filed by Patrick against the Houston Post showed he'd checked himself into Spring Shadows Glen, a now-shuttered psychiatric hospital in Houston, in 1984 or 1985 for treatment of mild depression and exhaustion.

Insisting he was not there for psychiatric or emotional problems, but, “for rest,” Patrick said in a court deposition that he “slept, basically, for two weeks.” He also said he had been hospitalized at another facility, Memorial City, in the early 1980s for “fatigue, exhaustion.”

Another set of records released Friday show Patrick was admitted to Spring Shadows Glen for “severe depression” after reporting “feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, hopelessness and marked decrease of self-esteem.”

Patrick's admission into the clinic was directly related to a suicide attempt on Jan. 14, 1986, according to records, in which he unsuccessfully tried to overdose on the antidepressant medication Imipramine and attempted to slash his right wrist before collapsing and being taken to a local emergency clinic.

Patrick was discharged five days after being admitted and his depression “decreased considerably and there was no evidence of suicidal preoccupations upon discharge,” records said.

But the new documents also provide details on Patrick's stay at Memorial City, which lasted several weeks and was the product of “acute exhaustion” brought on by “feeling extreme pressure from his work as a television sports broadcaster.”

Doctors determined Patrick's anxiety had decreased “to the point that it was felt he could return to his full-time work and be followed on an outpatient basis.”

In a statement, Patrick confirmed he sought and successfully completed the treatment, and accused Dewhurst of dirty politics in leaking the information to the media in the final days of the campaign.

Other senators who support Patrick also weighed in to publicly criticize Dewhurst.

“I voluntarily entered the hospital twice in the 1980s for exhaustion and to seek treatment for depression. Some of the prescribed medications exacerbated my condition and created more serious problems. Through prayer and with the help of my family and physician, like millions of other Americans, I was able to defeat depression. I have not seen a doctor or taken any medication to treat depression in nearly 30 years,” Patrick said.

“Dewhurst believes my medical issues with depression, nearly 30 years ago, are a problem. He's mistaken,” Patrick said. “The problem is when a politician who is sliding in the polls, thinks he can use his opponent's health records to get ahead. It simply won't work.”

Patrick released a copy of a 2011 letter from the doctor who treated him, saying he has no remaining issues with depression.

Patrick led the four-candidate GOP primary in March with a double-digit lead over Dewhurst, who has been lieutenant governor since 2003. Patrick received 41 percent of the vote, Dewhurst, 28 percent, Patterson, 12 percent and Todd Staples got 17 percent.

Patrick enjoys strong tea party support, and he and Dewhurst have waged a pitched battle for months over who has the strongest conservative credentials.

Tea party support is considered a key to winning the runoff, and the two politicians have engaged in an increasingly nasty war with broadcast and cable television ads accusing each other of lying and being unfit for serve.

The fray was joined Friday by several state senators — most of them doctors, all supporting Patrick — who harshly criticized the release of the records and, indirectly, Dewhurst.

“A personal attack of this kind sinks to an unprecedented low, shamelessly attempting to embarrass Dan Patrick for seeking the appropriate medical care to treat a minor bout with depression that occurred almost 30 years ago,” said state Sens. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville; Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels; and Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown.

“He told a group of us a year ago about all this, and that he expected it might come out because this was going to be a really tough race,” said JoAnn Fleming of Tyler, a tea party activist and executive director of Grassroots America. “This is a really low-rent way for David Dewhurst to go about asking us to rehire him for his job.

“He tried to do the same thing a year ago by going negative on Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race, and it didn't work. He didn't learn anything, now, did he?”

Dewhurst supporter Ted Richardson of Austin said he was afraid the release of Patrick's medical records won't help Dewhurst, even if he had no part in their release.

“Most people wouldn't want to have this kind of their information out there,” he said. “And this was something that happened 30 years ago.”

For their part, Dewhurst campaign officials distanced themselves from the release of the records and insisted Patterson had gone rogue.

“Commissioner Jerry Patterson operates completely independently of my campaign, and over my objections he chose to release information ... which are all part of the public domain,” the campaign said on behalf of Dewhurst.

For his part, Patterson acknowledged that Dewhurst “asked me to cease distribution of this information.”

drauf@express-news.net