FORTITUDE: Rising Out of the Trenches of Trauma into a Life Free from Fear, Pain, Shame and Suicidal Thoughts

After surviving combat in Baghdad, Iraq, a military-prescribed drug addiction, a failed marriage and [fortunately] a failed suicide attempt, former Army Sergeant Jason Sapp knows first-hand how post-traumatic stress (PTS) can damage lives unless it’s tackled head-on and ultimately conquered.Eighteen percent of reported suicides are military veterans, and the rest are civilians. Sixty-five percent of veterans who commit suicide are over fifty years old. The rate of suicide for veteran women is 2.4 times higher than civilian women. Seventy percent of veterans who committed suicides didn’t seek regular health care at a VA. As a result of experiencing a real or perceived threat to life, bodily harm, or emotional instability, trauma can also severely affect children and teens, and men and women of all ages. First responder, civilian and war-related trauma severely affects families and relationships. Once released from service, they’re expected to assimilate back into a “normal” daily life despite their damage. Because they’ve lost the ability to function in their daily life, they’re hesitant about what steps they should take to regain the life they had before their trauma snatched it from them. Trauma – a debilitating emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual condition – creates even more victims who suffer from second-hand PTS, which Jason’s wife, La’Nette, covers in her section to help other Army spouses and civilian spouses.Events, situations, noises, smells, sounds and even people can trigger negative behavior, excessive worrying, night terrors, lack of self-esteem, and many other maladies. Though the symptoms have always existed as a result of war or other types of trauma, post-traumatic stress dates as far back as the Civil War. Initially coined as a term for soldiers suffering from “Soldier’s Heart” (shell shock or battle fatigue), the condition was defined by developmental and emotional characteristics of an individual exposed to extreme or life-threatening trauma.During Jason’s journey to regain his post-war mental, physical and psychological faculties, he went on a spiritual trek that culminated in him developing the program he shares in this book and his trauma coaching program. Like many servicemen and women, he’d been unaware how severely the war in Iraq had damaged his coping mechanisms to effectively return to civilian life. Over time he also realized how his childhood trauma had affected his abilities as an adult to effectively function as a friend, father and husband. Struggling to assimilate back into civilian life, his emotional and physical scars, plus his addiction to VA-prescribed pain pills, eventually led him down a rabbit hole to a suicide attempt. Later he realized God had saved him to prove to anyone – military personnel or civilian alike – who has post-traumatic stress (PTS), or other forms of trauma, that they can be healed, and that life can be much happier and more peaceful. As a Certified Professional Coach (CPC), Jason’s goal with writing Fortitude is to give people solid tools, tips and techniques to move past their trauma in order to achieve their goals, dreams, identity, purpose and power. And most importantly, to be able to live the loving, passionate life God created for them.