Episode 62

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Published on:

2nd Nov 2025

War, Anger, Sobriety, and Starting Again

What happens when survival becomes your identity. Sean Young grew up inside violence, entered the Army at 17, deployed four times, lost his best friend overseas, and spiraled into addiction and rage after discharge. After a suicide attempt and a hard reset, he chose accountability, community, and five years of continuous sobriety. We talk about men’s mental health, veteran transitions, anger as armor, and the slow work of living again.

  • Childhood abuse, foster care, adoption, religious rigidity
  • Four deployments and the grief that never got a funeral
  • The “always angry” nervous system and why it isn’t character, it is chemistry
  • Veterans Treatment Court, 12-step work, and radical accountability
  • Sitting in pain without numbing and building a life that can hold it
  • Community, mentorship, and why isolation keeps the wound open


🎙️ What We Talk About:

  • Survival mode as “existing” instead of living
  • How chronic anger masks fear and grief
  • Trauma bonding in relationships and breaking the cycle
  • Tools that helped: AA, MRT, group work, anger skills, spiritual practices
  • The veteran cliff after discharge and why community saves lives
  • Parenting self after chaos and learning to regulate the body
  • Tiny proofs of life: roses in a garden, sober mornings, answering a 3 a.m. call

🔑 Key Takeaways:

“Survival mode is not living. It is just making it to the next day.”
“Anger isn’t the end. It is a sign that fear or sadness is underneath.”
“Accountability heals what shame keeps infected.”
“Don’t take it personal. Most of what hurt you wasn’t about you.”


🙌 Why This Episode Matters:

Men are bleeding out emotionally in plain sight. Veterans are trained to stay angry and stay ready, then sent home without a map back to peace. Sean’s story is a masterclass in choosing life when the body only knows war. If you love a man who is hurting, if you are that man, or if you are rebuilding after addiction, you will hear yourself here.

💬 Connect with Sean:

  • Podcast: Recover Out Loud
  • Instagram/TikTok: @the_sober_shaman_sean
  • Facebook: Sean Young
  • Mentorship and speaking: contact via socials


🔗 Resources & Links:


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Show artwork for Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis

About the Podcast

Survival Mode Disrupted with Leticia R Francis
Disruptive Unapologetic Conversations about Survival Mode
Survival Mode Disrupted is not just a podcast. It's a rebellion.

A raw, unfiltered space where we finally stop pretending we're fine and start telling the truth—the truth about the trauma we've carried, the identities they had to wear to survive, and the radical decisions we made to break free.

Because here's the deal: survival mode isn’t just a season. It’s a damn identity. One that so many were forced to adopt just to get through life, to stay safe, to stay needed, to stay sane. But eventually, it starts costing you more than it protects. Your peace. Your purpose. Your power.

This podcast is for the disruptors—the people who were told to stay small, stay silent, stay grateful for crumbs… and said “hell no.”

Hosted by Leticia, The Survival Mode Disruptor herself—a trauma recovery mentor, speaker, and woman who has lived through the fires of abuse, betrayal, and breakdown and still chose to rise—this show dives deep into the unapologetic exits from survival mode that no one talks about.

You’ll hear from women (and a few brave men) who walked away from toxic relationships, soul-sucking careers, generational dysfunction, religious trauma, cultural expectations, and the lies they were taught to believe about themselves. Not because it was easy—but because staying would’ve killed something sacred inside of them.

These are the stories of bold pivots, quiet courage, and messy but miraculous rebirths.

Each episode is a conversation—a disruption—meant to wake something up in you. Whether it’s a guest sharing the moment they chose themselves for the first time, or Leticia dropping a truth bomb that makes you question everything you’ve normalized, this podcast is here to shake the foundation of your survival mode identity and replace it with something truer. Something freer.

We’re not here for surface-level self-care tips or fake empowerment slogans.

We’re here to talk about what it really takes to:

Reclaim your voice after being silenced.

Reinvent yourself after being broken down.

Rewrite your story when everyone else wants you to stay the same.

Release the guilt of choosing YOU.

This is for those who are done performing. Done pleasing. Done pretending.

It’s for the ones ready to exit survival mode—not slowly, not quietly, but disruptively and unapologetically.

You won’t leave this podcast the same.
You’ll cry. You’ll rage. You’ll laugh.
You’ll see yourself in every story.
And more importantly, you’ll remember who the hell you are.

Welcome to Survival Mode Disrupted.
It’s not just a podcast.
It’s a movement.
And your exit begins here.

Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for Leticia Francis

Leticia Francis

I am not here to inspire you—I am here to activate you.

As a Survivor, Keynote Speaker, and Trauma Recovery Mentor, I know what it’s like to fight battles no one sees. I also know that breaking free is possible. My work is about disrupting survival mode, exposing trauma-driven success cycles, and giving women the blueprint to reclaim their lives.

🔹 200+ podcast features & speaking engagements
🔹 Global Women of Choice Award Winner 2022
🔹 Creator of the Survival Mode Exit Plan
🔹 Host of Survival Mode Disrupted Podcast