When faced with difficult situations, it's not uncommon for our minds to become defeated and overwhelmed with fear. This can lead to a lack of trust in ourselves and those around us, making it difficult to move forward and achieve our goals. In this blog post, we'll explore the causes and symptoms of a defeated mind and how to overcome the fear that comes with it. Whether you're struggling with self-doubt or lacking confidence in others, this article will provide practical tips to help you regain trust and confidence in yourself and those around you.

The Struggle is real!

Have you ever woken up so exhausted from this world that you were so ready to be done with it and wondered, what did I do so wrong to live this painful and unjust life? Having the constant mind-dulling view, though, everything is against you as if you are fighting a never-ending wave of problems from a vast cruel ocean! I understand! I've felt the same antagonistic and debilitating force.

As a child, I was sexually assaulted, but I was too young to know what that was. I had insatiate hate towards this person and could not understand why. I WAS PICKED ON once I was old enough to start school because I had a particular class, English as a Second Language (ESL). My Hispanic classmates made fun of me because I did not know English! Crazy right? So, I got into quite a few fights because of it. Things did not start to get real for me until high school. At this time, my parent's marriage began to go south. I was the middle eldest child since my older brother left the house at eighteen and joined the military. Since I was the most senior at home, I felt caught between my parents. Nevertheless, I was on the battlefield with an absolute defeat either way. I did not feel safe at home. I was dealing with a verbally hostile father and a crying mother. I became outraged and in a constant state of vigilance. I used alcohol and went out to cope with my issues. I had no clue what to expect. Finally, the battle ended with a divorce and my dad leaving the house. In 2003, The Army called me to serve in Iraq for fourteen months. I was excited but also scared out of my mind. It was an absolute war zone. I left that place with emotional and mental scars. In 2006, my beloved mother passed in an unexpected automotive rollover on Mother's Day. "Oh man, when does it end?!" In 2009, I got married. I would have thought that things were finally turning around. Not quite! In less than a year, we already had significant problems. In our fourth year, we decided to split. It was not healthy. A few years ago, I got out of a horrible, manipulative toxic relationship, and my beautiful soul of a dog passed off Ehrlichia. Really? When does it stop?! These are all actual events that occurred in my life, and I felt utterly hopeless. I realized that PTS and PTSD are real.

What is the difference between PTS and PTSD?

PTS is a standard, regular, and often adaptive response to experiencing a traumatic or stressful event. Almost everyone who participates in a scary situation will show a few signs of post-traumatic stress. That's because our brains are hard-wired to tell our bodies to tense our muscles, breathe faster, and pump more blood under intense pressure. This is the "fight-or-flight" response. Our body prepares to deal with a threat or challenge by pumping more blood and oxygen to our muscles, and it shuts down non-critical functions like digestion. This fight-or-flight response is considered a normal reaction and not a mental illness.

PTSD is a clinically diagnosed condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include reliving a traumatic event through nightmares, flashbacks, or constantly thinking about it. You might avoid situations or people that remind you of the event, have only negative thoughts or emotions, and continuously feel jittery, nervous, or "on edge.

What is Stress?

In simple terms, stress is a feeling

people have when they are overloaded and struggling to cope with demands. These demands can be related to finances, work, relationships, and other situations, but anything that poses an actual or perceived challenge or threat to a person's well-being can cause stress.

According to the annual stress survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), average stress levels in the United States (U.S.) rose from 4.9 to 5.1 on a scale from 1 to 10 in 2015. The main reasons given are employment and money.

Stress can be a motivator. It can be essential to survival. The "fight-or-flight" mechanism can tell us when and how to respond to danger. However, if this mechanism is triggered too quickly, or when there are too many stressors at one time, it can undermine a person's mental and physical health and become harmful.

The body produces larger quantities of the chemicals cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline. These trigger an increased heart rate, heightened muscle preparedness, sweating, and alertness. All these factors improve the ability to respond to a hazardous or challenging situation. Your mental health is so important and affects your daily life. Extreme stress is not conducive to our health.

I had to make several lifestyle changes when stressed to optimize my mental health. Changing my diet to a healthy, balanced diet with fruits and vegetables and no dairy or gluten was crucial for boosting my immune system. I completely stopped the intake of alcohol and caffeine to reduce adverse reactions to the central nervous system. An increase in exercise also improved the mental and physical state. Prioritizing my time was vital in organizing my life. Most importantly, set aside some time each day for self-care. Starting or ending my day with salt baths slow down the nervous system and aid in relaxation. Self-reflection on any situation affected me; I practiced mentally stepping back from any position and being more of an observer than reacting to the problem. This final step takes time but is very effective when dealing with difficult situations and not getting caught up in the story.

The author made several lifestyle changes to improve their mental health when stressed. They changed their diet to a healthy one without dairy or gluten, stopped consuming alcohol and caffeine, increased exercise, prioritized their time, and practiced self-care. They also practiced self-reflection and observed situations instead of reacting to them. This final step takes time but is effective in dealing with difficult situations.