We need men that if they do good, that’s a is called bein
Special Forces man Jason Fox tells Fulton that when the going gets to the tough need to talk about their fee
MEN not talking about their mental health is a “by-product of old attitudes,” according to former Special Forces hard man Jason Fox.
The star of Channel 4 series SAS: Who Dares Wins joined the Royal Marines at 16. He advanced to the Special Boat Service in 2001, working in hostage rescue, surveillance and counter terrorism in wartorn areas such as Afghanistan. But he was medically discharged in 2012 suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The 44-year-old from Plymouth has written several books since, the latest of which is Life Under Fire, and has used his celebrity to talk about why men need to talk about their feelings.
He once hid his PTSD, preferring to close down rather than open up.
Jason explained: “It’s a by-product of old attitudes. “Different things work for different people, but to blanket men with this idea that you just need to shut up and ‘man up’ is not helpful. It obviously doesn’t work for a lot of people, because men are killing themselves at an astonishing rate.
“We need men to know that if they don’t feel good, that’s all right, and it’s a natural reaction to something. It’s called being human. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want it to be an excuse – ‘I can’t do this and I can’t do that’ – you’ve got to find a little bit of grit and determination to help you through tough times. But please, please find the right people you feel comfortable talking to, because that 100 per cent saved me.”
Jason, was a sergeant in the Special Forces in Afghanistan when he realised something was not right.
He said: “On my final tour of Afghanistan, there are moments I can pinpoint when I felt strange things. Like lying in a ditch and suddenly thinking about being at home as a 10-year-old boy, when I’m supposed to be a seasoned combat veteran.
“When I came back from that tour, I was so unmotivated. I wasn’t having flashbacks or anything, but I was supposed to be a leader and it just wasn’t right. I tried to explore that, to restore my military mojo, and it turned out I’d contracted PTSD and was in a fit of depression.” The military man was still torn about what to do. Being a soldier had been his life since he was 16. Despite being told leaving the Army would make him better, after he did, he felt worse. He explained: “I was told the thing that would fix me was leaving the military. I wasn’t totally happy with it, but I had to listen. “Then I woke up expecting to feel better, and I didn’t, I felt worse. I’d lost my sense of belonging, and no longer felt part of something that had been a massive part of my life since I was 16. There’s an identity there, so you’re left thinking, ‘Who am I? What’s my purpose?”’ Despite being withdrawn, angry, “fuzzyheaded” and forgetful, it took months for Jason to deal with his state-of-mind and in 2013 almost threw himself off a cliff in Devon. Another time he was shocked when a colleague at the catering company he’d found a job with told the phone to her for hours claiming he was going to h
He had no memory of the Realising how unwell he therapy sessions with Lagaisse and found the ro began once he opened abo to his friends.
Jason said: “Demons emotions. Human beings emotions, and we can so them to control us, or be e them.
“That makes us not ta and when I went through and was contemplating s being honest with myself emotions were.”
Using his 20 years’ exp military, Jason began assi crews working in difficult such as the desert, jungle and was chosen as one o staff on Channel 4 series S Wins in 2015 hosted by An
The series puts ordinary civilians and celebs – thro
You’ve got to find a little bit of grit to help you through
physical and psychological tests. Jason, known as Foxy, made sure it wasn’t all about how strong physically people were and was determined to open up about his own mental struggles.
He said: “One of the most pivotal moments was on the first series of Who Dares Wins, as one of the main reasons I went on the show was to use it as a platform to talk about mental health.
“I knew when episode two came out at nine o’ clock on a Monday, it was going to be me on national TV saying, ‘I’ve been medically discharged for PTSD and I suffer from depression’. I was so scared, so anxious, and not a nice person to be around that day.
“I had no idea how it was going to be received, but when it went out, the feedback was awesome. I felt such a sense of empowerment, like the biggest weight had been lifted, because I’d admitted something real and said: ‘That’s who I am’. I didn’t need to keep up this facade of being this super tough bloke. I’m so pleased I did it.”
From being part of the directing staff, Jason is now a course consultant on the main show and spin-offs Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and SAS Australia which began this year.
Also shown this year was the second celebrity series of Who Dares Wins. Screened in April, the celebs included Katie Price, Strictly’s Brendan Cole and Anthea Turner. The show was filmed on the Island of Raasay, near Skye. For Jason it felt like a homecoming, having spent much of his training doing manoeuvres and exercises there.
He said: “Scotland is beautifully brutal. It’s our back yard when it comes to training. The founder of the SAS, David Stirling is from Scotland and you do a lot of training there. And that’s why the British military are so good – they are resilient because of Scotland.”
Life Under Fire: How To Build Inner Strength And Thrive Under Pressure by Jason Fox is out now.
TOUGH GUYS Jason, main picture, and below, with special forces TV colleague Ollie Ollerton and Who Dares contestant Moses Ican