Jason Kander on War, Politics, and PTSD

Jason Kander had heard of post-traumatic stress disorder. He just
didn’t think he had it. After all, he hadn’t been in any
firefights while stationed in wartime Afghanistan, he had merely
worked as an intelligence officer. And even though that job put
him in positions of tremendous vulnerability where he may have to
kill or be killed in an instant, it never occurred to him that he
was experiencing trauma.


So when Jason got back stateside and remained hypervigilant, was
destroyed by night terrors, patrolled his house with a gun, and
was generally a mess, he figured it was something that would soon
go away. As he waited for that to happen, he climbed the ranks of
Democratic politics, eventually being told by Barack Obama that
he should consider running for the highest office in the land.


But you can’t run from mental illness forever. It catches you. It
caught Jason in the middle of a race for Mayor of Kansas City.
That’s when he hit bottom and got help. It’s a story told in his
new book, Invisible Storm: A Soldier's Memoir of Politics and
PTSD.


Get your copy of Jason's book, Invisible Storm: A Soldier's
Memoir of Politics and PTSD, wherever books are sold. Listen to
Majority 54, Jason's podcast with Ravi Gupta, wherever fine pods
are cast. Visit Jason Kander's website at JasonKander.com. Follow
Jason on Twitter @JasonKander and on Instagram @jasonkander.


Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly
members of Maximum Fun. 


Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear
what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you
like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at
depreshmode@maximumfun.org.


Help is available right away.


The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 or 1-800-273-8255,
1-800-273-TALK


Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.


International suicide hotline numbers available
here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines


The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe
for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health
issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/


John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is
now available in
paperback. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209566/thehilariousworldofdepression


Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.


John is on Twitter @johnmoe.