I just turned off the "Auto Confirm" on the trading page, feeling more at ease.

MEV, to put it simply, is front-running on the blockchain: you think you click first and get it first, but someone can push you to the back, especially with large trades or big slippage, the ones most affected are often the most anxious.
Whether it's fair or not, let's not argue; the result is that small investors are more easily "educated" and then start to become suspicious and paranoid.
A few days ago, cross-chain bridges had issues again, and oracles were acting up with quotes, everyone flocked to say "wait for confirmation," which is actually a lingering distrust issue.
Anyway, I now pay more attention to position and rhythm, so one front-run can’t crush my mindset.