SELF ESTEEM
What is my Self Esteem? How do i deal with it?
We use the phrase self-esteem to talk about the beliefs you have about yourself – what you think about the type of person you are, your abilities, the positive and negative things about you and what you expect for your future.
If you have healthy self-esteem, your beliefs about yourself will generally be positive. You may experience difficult times in your life, but you will generally be able to deal with these without them having too much of a long-term negative impact on you.
If you have low self-esteem, your beliefs about yourself will often be negative. You will tend to focus on your weaknesses or mistakes that you have made, and may find it hard to recognise the positive parts of your personality. You may also blame yourself for any difficulties or failures that you have.
S E L F
E S T E E M
It is not possible to identify one cause of low self-esteem for everyone.
You form your beliefs about yourself over a long period of time and this process is likely to be affected by a range of different things.
Low self-esteem is not a recognised mental health problem, but self-esteem and mental health are closely related.
-
Negative thinking patterns associated with low self-esteem, such as assuming you will fail at things you do, can develop over time and lead to mental health problems such as depression or anxiety.
-
Low self-esteem can make it hard to try new things or complete tasks, such as starting a new hobby or completing a job application. This can stop you from living your life the way you want, and lead to frustration and depression over time.
"People think I am confident because I can address a room full of people. The reality is that I spend most of my time thinking that I’m not good enough. If I... give a speech, I spend the next few days thinking about all the mistakes I made."
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
It's not what you are that is holding you back. It's what you think you are not.
- Unknown
Some mental health problems, such as eating problems, depression and social phobia, involve developing negative thinking patterns about yourself. A mental health problem can make it hard to do day-to-day tasks, such as using public transport or maintaining a paid job. This can have a negative impact on the way you see yourself. A mental health problem could cause you to withdraw from social contact, if you are worried how other people may see you. This can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, which can then cause low self-esteem.
Stigma and discrimination about mental health problems could mean you develop a negative opinion about yourself. We hope this helped x