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allisonnorberg 's review for:
Invisible Storm: A Soldier's Memoir of Politics and PTSD
by Jason Kander
I very much enjoyed this book. Invisible Storm follows Jason Kander, an army veteran who was deployed in Afghanistan and also ran for a couple political offices in Missouri. The book also includes thoughts from his wife Diana, which gave two perspectives on the same situation.
The book highlights many real hardships of relationships and normalizes those hardships. Diana and Jason went through many difficult times together (Jason’s deployment, depression, and running for political office) and they’re still together, and you can tell they have so much love for each other and are very strong. It really shows a lot of strength to support your partner and love them unconditionally through tough times.
Jason struggled a lot while running for political office due to PTSD. Throughout his time running for office, he wrote that he constantly had to keep working so he wouldn’t have thoughts of his time in Afghanistan. However, he longed to be deployed again so he could have war experiences on par with other soldiers. A quote that really sticks with me is “I fixated on that comparison, constantly downplaying both my trauma and what it did to me…PTSD is an injury. That’s all it is.” Jason also states that “the army wires every soldier to think what I did was no big deal. It’s an absolutely necessary form of brainwashing that helps keep you going.” If I didn’t already have the utmost respect for people who serve in the military, I certainly do now.
I love this quote from the book “I’d become the guy who won by losing.” Jason realized that holding political office probably wasn’t for him, but since being exposed to US politics, he ended up getting more involved in activism and creating Let America Vote and Veterans Community Project, and meeting other progressive politicians eager to make positive changes in the US.
The openness of both Jason and Diana captured in Invisible Storm show how strong being vulnerable is. The fact that Jason told the truth about his PTSD when he announced he was taking a break from politics is something we need more of. Being honest about mental health is so so important. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
The book highlights many real hardships of relationships and normalizes those hardships. Diana and Jason went through many difficult times together (Jason’s deployment, depression, and running for political office) and they’re still together, and you can tell they have so much love for each other and are very strong. It really shows a lot of strength to support your partner and love them unconditionally through tough times.
Jason struggled a lot while running for political office due to PTSD. Throughout his time running for office, he wrote that he constantly had to keep working so he wouldn’t have thoughts of his time in Afghanistan. However, he longed to be deployed again so he could have war experiences on par with other soldiers. A quote that really sticks with me is “I fixated on that comparison, constantly downplaying both my trauma and what it did to me…PTSD is an injury. That’s all it is.” Jason also states that “the army wires every soldier to think what I did was no big deal. It’s an absolutely necessary form of brainwashing that helps keep you going.” If I didn’t already have the utmost respect for people who serve in the military, I certainly do now.
I love this quote from the book “I’d become the guy who won by losing.” Jason realized that holding political office probably wasn’t for him, but since being exposed to US politics, he ended up getting more involved in activism and creating Let America Vote and Veterans Community Project, and meeting other progressive politicians eager to make positive changes in the US.
The openness of both Jason and Diana captured in Invisible Storm show how strong being vulnerable is. The fact that Jason told the truth about his PTSD when he announced he was taking a break from politics is something we need more of. Being honest about mental health is so so important. I highly recommend this book to everyone.