What Happens When One Suffers From Low Self Esteem

Low self esteem has been frequently considered the cause of a lot of the world’s social problems—from crime, to the inability of people to socially interact with other people. However, there has been little consideration as to what it really is, and what tangible effects it may have on a person. In order to understand what it is and, in effect, resolve some of its detriments, it is first important to explore some basic concepts related to it, as well as its various impacts.

To begin with, self esteem is the value people associate themselves with. Therefore, unlike the misconception that self esteem is how confident people are about what they can do, self esteem is really more self-worth than confidence. The latter, after all, is more associated with the belief in one’s own ability to perform future tasks, whereas self-worth is how they see their own selves at the present time.

However, this is not to say that self esteem is a variable concept. Quite the contrary, psychologists consider self esteem as a rather enduring conception that people have about themselves, despite the fact that there may be some instances of a person’s self worth momentarily faltering in the opposite direction.

When people suffer from feelings of low self worth, they often compare themselves to other people. In the process, they see their flaws sticking out, making them less respectable than the people they are comparing themselves to. They will see what they lack and what they do not possess, and over-glorify the good traits that other people may have.

Increased paranoia over the possibility that people are making fun of them may also take place. They may be overly afraid of being judged when they go out in public with their flaws so obvious for the world to see. This will create within them strong feelings of self hate and self loathing.

There are also moments when people who suffer from low levels of self esteem feel as though they do not deserve the things they have, or are not worth the love their friends or family bestow on them. They will often feel like they are not worth the trouble, and clearly a waste of whatever time, money, and effort that people may be spending in order to be with them or to make them feel special.

They may then withdraw from whatever social interactions they have, or may at least have some difficulty interacting with other people. They may become overly sensitive to critique, and may often feel helpless and vulnerable even when around the people who truly care for them. Unfortunately, some of them may also express whatever self hate they feel through anger and increased intolerance of what other people have to say to them.

Some indicators of some form of low self esteem may include an obsessive form of perfectionism. People who suffer from such low self worth tend to impose impossible standards upon themselves, and therefore foster deeper feelings of self hate as they are unable to meet these expectations. They may also be too willing to please other at their own expense. This is usually because whatever affirmation they receive from other people become ways for them to see themselves, at least momentarily, as worthy of respect and love.

Unfortunately, without that nod of approval from other people, they will again express feelings of worthlessness.

The Need for Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is a good source of mental health and good well –being and the need for self- esteem is as important as the need for mental development as the body craves for food.

It has been observed that individuals with good self –esteem are more assertive, relaxed and at peace with themselves, who live balanced lives and always crave for self- improvement.

These people are usually independent thinkers and their outlook, oftentimes, positively create an impact on other people surrounding them. Here are some common tips in maintaining a high self –esteem.

Optimism is very important, since it creates the atmosphere of positive state. In case things do not work out the way it should be, stop for a minute and think about how to make the most out of the situation.

Know how to differentiate between your strengths and your weaknesses. Having a good self- esteem does not mean not being helpless at times and needing help from others. Sometimes, we need all the encouragement that we can get especially in moments of weakness when we feel down and blue. After all, nobody’s perfect.

Know your fears and conquer them. Knowing how to confront your fears will help you overcome adversities and will make you more confident about yourself.

Assertiveness is also important in developing self-esteem, especially when faced with situations where it is necessary to say no. Not every situation in life merits a yes, and sometimes when faced with situations that call for one to say no, it is important to stress the point and drive your message home and be proud of that decision.

Take good care of your mind and body. Many self –gratifying measures deal with efforts to take good care of not just mental health, but also of physical development and attractiveness.

Self–esteem can also result from self –satisfaction and confidence. Set expectations with yourself, especially by setting goals and ambitions, which are good motivators that can drive a person to aim for success.

Compliment yourself and always willingly accept it from others. This is one way of telling yourself that you have done the right thing and that you have done good.

Do not eat too much or watch the news or violent movies before going to sleep. Always make it a point to sleep well, that way, you start the day right and refreshed as you carry yourself.

Having fun is as much as keeping and maintaining a balanced mood all throughout the day. This will keep an individual maintain a positive outlook and, ultimately, be also a good motivator to aim for success and development.

It can also help strengthen the immune system.

Make it a point to always release pent-up negative emotions, since keeping them inside may result to repressed emotions that could affect a person’s day to day mental demeanor. As much has possible, never try to be a perfectionist, especially in dealing with other people or even with the way affairs are being conducted.

After all, nothing is practically perfect in the world and sometimes, the sense of thinking that something could be flawed can turn out to be frustrating especially for perfectionists.

Lastly, surround yourself with supportive and positive people, and try to let go of people that you believe can pull you down or make you lose your identity as a person or an individual.

Understanding the need for self –esteem is important, especially if you want to know how to understand what it means to be a person.

What is Self-Esteem

It is merely an opinion of  how you see yourself. There are two types namely high self esteem and low self esteem and between the two, it is better to have the first. This is because high self-esteem enables you to love yourself for who you are while low self esteem doesn’t make you grow as a person and make you successful. 

But where do you get self-esteem? Well as a child, you get it from your parents. If they raised you right and praised you for your achievements, chances are you will have a positive outlook of yourself and life. If you happen to be raised by parents who are not very caring, well you won’t see the positive qualities you have and will have an angry outlook at the world.

You can also get this from your friends and your peers because sometimes, how we feel about ourselves is based on the perception of others. If you are able to ignore the negative sentiment, you are fine because you don’t let such words affect you.

In the end though, your self esteem comes from inside you. To figure that out, you can ask yourself some simple questions. Do you like who you are? Are you happy? Do you think you are a good person? Most of the time, the answer is yes even if sometimes you have doubts about yourself.

To get rid of those doubts, well you should first accept your faults and realize that you are not the only one that has this problem. Everyone has a few flaws that they want to get rid of so you must have the willingness to change in order to improve yourself.

Another thing you should accept is that you are different from the rest. This is not only in terms of your physical attributes but also who you are personally just like each person has their own set of fingerprints that can never be duplicated by anyone else.

For those that need help, well they can get counseling to improve their self-esteem or listen to self-help tapes that are designed to do the same thing as well.

Another technique which won’t cost you a thing will be to write down on a piece of paper 50 things you like about yourself and then cherishing it. Since we all grow and change every single day, try to write down one good thing you did about yourself daily so you can look up and realize that you are not a bad person.

When you have high self esteem, you are less likely to do anything destructive to yourself or to others. This is because you have a positive outlook about life and are always optimistic about the future. With that, you can probably say you can get anything you want out of life when you have this quality but remember not to confuse it with being too overconfident because there are two different things.

Another benefit of high self esteem is being able to have an easier time handling problems and resisting negative pressures. But we should not forget that is something that we inherit and not something we are born with. This can change in the years to come only if we allow it and if this happens, hopefully we can be better than who we were before rather than going the opposite direction.