The mother of U.S. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr has broken the silence surrounding her son’s mysterious illness saying he’s struggled to deal with ‘enormous disappointment’ over recent years.

In an emotional and spiritual speech at the Operation PUSH annual conference on Friday, Jacqueline Jackson opened up about her son's political disappointments and his illness, that doctors have called a 'mood disorder.'

'I’m not ashamed to say he thought he was going to be a senator. He thought he was going to have a chance to run for mayor. And young people don’t bounce back from disappointment like me and my husband,' she told the Chicago crowd.