Cognitive Warfare - Why So Many of Us Feel Mentally Exhausted Lately

To our humanity.

If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “Why does everything feel so heavy lately?” you’re not alone.

In my brief 67+ years circumnavigating the sun, I have learned to manage my emotional state by identifying what ‘intent’ another’s position holds. It is the failure of such observations that can literally drive us crazy.

Many executives, entrepreneurs, and community leaders—especially those who are immigrants to America are quietly experiencing mental fatigue, confusion, and even a subtle loss of purpose. Not because they lack resilience, but because we’re living in an environment shaped by something most people never learned to name: cognitive warfare.

What Is Cognitive Warfare In Plain Language?

Cognitive warfare isn’t about armies or borders. It’s about how information, emotions, and narratives are used to influence the way we think, feel, and decide.

It shows up through:

* Overwhelming news cycles

* Conflicting social media narratives

* Emotionally charged headlines

* Algorithms designed to hold attention not protect mental health

The goal isn’t always to convince you of something specific. Often, it’s simply to confuse you, exhaust you, or divide you from others, making clarity harder to reach. Selecting what you engage in and with, is adding to your capabilities and hence sense of self. 

How It Sneaks Into Daily Life

Cognitive warfare rarely feels dramatic. It’s subtle.

* You scroll endlessly but feel less informed - Manage your impulses to do so.

* Conversations feel more polarized - even within families. Identify both yours and those you are speaking with, ‘intent’, ‘outcome’.

* Trust in institutions, media, or even people feels shaky - Do a little research on the interests of those that drive the messaging and what they have supported in the past.

* Decision-making takes more energy than it used to - Time is not the factor, understanding through strategic thinking. This particular skill will cross over into other conversations you have with yourself and others. We call this the fundamentals of interpersonal communications at the ‘Root Cause’, of understanding.

For immigrant families, this pressure is often intensified by layered identities, cultural expectations, and the responsibility of being both a leader and a bridge between worlds.

The Hidden Cost: Purpose Fatigue

When confusion becomes constant, it doesn’t just affect opinions it affects purpose.

People begin to ask:

* What and who can I trust? Reintroduce yourself to your intuition.

* Am I thinking for myself - or reacting? Would you rather ‘respond’?

* Why does everything feel so emotionally charged? Learn to decompress in the moment.

This erosion of clarity can quietly drain motivation, confidence, and psychological safety. As yourself better questions such as, what difference will this conversation, experience have in my life that helps others when I am gone? Do I have to respond or am I able to listen and comprehend what is going on? This is an internal force of your own to learn about your own triggers. There are many ‘better questions’, we can engage given any particular situation we find ourselves in. See Mind, Body and Spirit

👉 In the next post, we’ll explore how cognitive warfare impacts identity, autonomy, and mental health and why high-achieving leaders are especially vulnerable.


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