I don’t know much about Jason Kander, except what I read about him in the news. Former Army intelligence officer and Afghanistan veteran. First millennial to win a statewide office when he was elected Missouri secretary of state in 2012. Up-and-coming Democratic Party leader.
This week, Kander abandoned his campaign to become mayor of Kansas City, Mo., citing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression that he traces to his tour of duty in Afghanistan. He had a hole inside that he was hiding from himself and the world, he said. To his credit, he faced up to a problem that he did not bring on himself. He went so far as to state publicly that he was depressed to the point of calling the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Crisis Line, “tearfully conceding that, yes, I have had suicidal thoughts.”
Kander realized that this wasn’t occasional spells of feeling glum. It wasn’t something he could just snap out of. His symptoms of depression, he said, were “just getting worse.” He had to step back from his public pursuits and get help.
I’ve been there, done that, too.
– The Washington Post