Yeah, reality unfortunately is very harsh, "life isn't fair" and all that. I find the silver lining in things when I can so I wouldn't say I'm super pessimistic, but when you've seen people you love die, watched people harm themselves and been harmed yourself, it's hard to say "everything will be okay". Because "okay" depends on what it is you desire

Pessimist response: "well, I've probably already done the damage" lol

Hmmm I'd be interested to know how one could retrain the brain to see situations as challenging instead of threatening, even if they have experienced a number of genuinely life-threatening situations. I used to be addicted to drugs, so quite often one "mistake" i.e relapse, truly meant the loss of absolutely everything. It's hard to not feel like everything you do is all or nothing when that's what your rock bottom is.

I wish I could ask you a million questions! My life has been defined largely by an inability to handle/manage stress and I truly feel like it's taking years of my life. If you revisit this discussion later I do have one thing in particular to ask:

How do high-stress childhood experiences train our bodies to physically react to stress?