MAVRC Book Club discussion

September 2021
• Book: See Me For Who I Am: Student Veterans’ Stories of War and Coming Home edited by David Chrisinger (Hudson Whitman Excelsior College Press, 2015)
• Meeting: Thursday, September 30, 2021, 12:00PM

October 2021
• Book: Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy Seal's Journey to Coming Out Transgender by Kristin Beck and Anne Speckard, Ph.D. (Advances Press, 2013)
• Meeting: Thursday, October 28, 2021, 12:00PM

November 2021
• Book: Paying with Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran by John Kinder (The University of Chicago Press, 2015)
• Meeting: Thursday, November 18, 2021, 12:00PM
• Apply 30% discount Promo Code "MAVRC" for special pricing on any editions [paperback, hardback, e-book] when purchased through The University of Chicago Press: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/...

February 2022
• Book: War! What Is It Good For?: Black Freedom Struggles and the U.S. Military from World War II to Iraq by Kimberley L. Phillips (The University of North Carolina Press, 2012)
• Meeting: Thursday, February 24, 2022, 12:00PM
• Apply 40% discount Promo Code "01DAH40" for special pricing when purchased through The University of North Carolina Press: https://uncpress.org/book/97814696138...
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mavrc-bo...

March 2022
• Book: Beyond Combat: Women and Gender in the Vietnam War Era by Heather Marie Stur (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
• Meeting: Thursday, March 31, 2022, 12:00PM
• Apply 20% discount Promo Code "STUR2021" for special pricing when purchased through Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic...
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mavrc-bo...

April 2022
• Book: Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience by Anuradha Bhagwati (Atria Books, 2019)
• Meeting: Thursday, April 28, 2022, 12:00PM
REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mavrc-bo...

September 2022
• Book: I'm Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen - My Journey Home by Shoshana Johnson with M.L. Doyle (Simon & Schuster, 2010)
• Meeting: Thursday, September 29, 2022, 12:00PM
• REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mavrc-bo...

October 2022
• Book: The Rise of the Military Welfare State by Jennifer Mittelstadt (Harvard University Press, 2015)
• Meeting: Thursday, October 27, 2022, 12:00PM
• Order through Harvard University Press to receive 25% discount and free shipping: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/exhibits/...
• REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mavrc-bo...

Hello Everyone.
I'm Luis Trivino I am American Indian/Hispanic, a War Veteran, Father and Husband.
My wife has Border Line Personality disorder (BPD), PTSD, Depression and Anxiety. I suffer from PTSD and Bipolar I. My wife went through some delusional states when she had a change in her medicines, the stress of trauma therapy and anxiety all took hold of her at once causing a BPD Split. During this whole phase she asked how I could love her and be married to someone "So broken?".
In response during a Bipolar manic while trying to control and avoid my PTSD triggers I wrote a book in 23 hours detailing all of my traumas and how I strive to work at being normal since I was a child. My wife said we have a "Notebook of Love" so I write in hopes my notebook of love will bring her back to reality. That's why it is titled as "A Notebook of Love: My story on Mental Health".
I write it from a Male perspective. We men grow up as young boys being told "Be strong, be a man". When we run into stressful situations we lack the tools to solve problems. In turn it affects our mental well being, our relationships, and leads to violence, addiction and the list can go on. Simply because we are being dismissed as "He is a man, he will figure it out". because if this mentality are men be a a major issue in relationships? Is being a man another way of saying he is a narcissist? Veterans we tend to think differently and PTSD only complicates the issues, I discuss my own issues and resolve that have helped me and my marriage.
As I go through my whole story from my beginning to my present I detail everything with my self analysis and exercises I have learned to "Be normal". With all of this I wish to promote the decriminalization of any mental illness, encourage men to make their mental health a priority to better ourselves, our relationships and community.

In order to break the stigma we have to bring it all into the open, including us men.

Thank you

Luis