Connection Reset issues

I Am needing some help. I was using Proton VPN (free version to try it out) and it was working fine until just now when I opened my thunderbird and it keeps saying pop.dreamhost has been reset and I cannot get my emails now. I looked at the help section here and it said something on here about issues with this and so I tried the suggestions there and it did not work so I just disconnected the VPN entirely and restarted my laptop and it still is giving me the same issues. I need step by step on how to be able to get my emails working again on thunderbird here and also what to do step by step so if I use a VPN again that this will not happen as I travel and need to have access to my emails without these issues. I Am not very technical so an easy step by step would be appreciated. Please help. Thank you