(Reviewed by JD Jung)
One would think that Jason Kander had it all. He completed his law degree from Georgetown University and was married to Diana, a girl he met when they were both seventeen. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives while still in his 20s. He was then elected to the office of Missouri Secretary of State. However, Jason lacked the most critical component of a happy life…mental health.
After the 9/11 attacks, he knew that he wanted to join the Army. So, upon completing law school he volunteered for a tour in Afghanistan as an intelligence officer. Though he only served four months, he came back home with a loss of identity and purpose that military life provided.
At home he suffered from compulsive behavior, constant anger, and later even contemplated suicide. He felt a need to completely control his situations and surroundings which functioned as a survival instinct abroad. He experienced survivors’ guilt and also guilt due to feeling he was so privileged compared to the others who served.
He was never present with his wife and son. Years later upon realizing that he was suffering from PTSD, he ended a mayoral campaign, and left public life to get the help that he needed.
Jason Kander takes us on a heart-wrenching journey through his fight with “The Monster”. He takes us to Afghanistan, and we meet the people he met and worked with. Within the memoir, Diana intersperses her perspective in her own words.
Though the entire memoir was engaging, I found his sessions with his therapist to be the most fascinating. Here we learn the basis for his feelings of despair and what he needed to do to “tame The Monster”.
I appreciate how Kander recounted his feelings and responses to events with honesty and sensitivity. I feel that Invisible Storm is not Jason Kander’s battle with mental illness and PTSD, but also provides some insight on what our veterans go through when returning to civilian life.
