It is a little-known fact that everyone goes through a point in their life when they have low self-esteem. For some people, this stage can last longer than others and have more serious effects. Often it becomes more than a stage but their actual life.
My name is Emma, and this is a very sensitive subject for me. I am one of the people who have had one of the longer stages. I am one of the people who have ended up letting my low self-esteem control my life. One of the best ways, I think, to help resolve this issue is to raise awareness of it.
Other than just raise awareness of the issue, one of my goals as a contributor to this blog is to help people understand the difference between self-esteem and self-worth.
Everyone has self-worth. Let me repeat that: EVERYONE HAS SELF-WORTH. It does not matter how hard your life is or what mistakes you have made. YOU HAVE WORTH.
Unfortunately, everyone has self-esteem as well. Often our self-esteem doesn’t allow us to see our self-worth.
Think of a fun-house mirror. The image in the mirror represents our self-esteem and we ourselves represent our self-worth. You look in the mirror and you seem distorted. You are all out of proportion and the image you see is generally not very becoming. But the mirror lies; it is not truth. So you have to learn to look at yourself without the mirror. You will have to crane your neck and it may be uncomfortable at first as you strain to look at all of you, consider every aspect. However, after a while, as you become less and less dependent on the mirror and it becomes less uncomfortable, it likewise becomes easier to see the truth. You realize the deceitfulness of the mirror. True, there will still be things about you that you don’t like, but there are also many good things that you couldn’t see in the mirror.
A person with low self-esteem is in a position similar to this. They have to learn to look past their low self-esteem so they can see their self-worth. I ask you to keep this in mind as you read about the causes and effects of low self-esteem. I will also be talking about ways you can help yourself.
I am not a professional. I have not studied at top universities for years so I can understand all the characteristics of a wounded self-esteem. However, I have had many personal experiences with this. Though I cannot give you the professional help you, like me, may need, I can give you advice as a human you can relate to, as a person you talk to, and as a friend you can come to.
I am not a professional. I have not studied at top universities for years so I can understand all the characteristics of a wounded self-esteem. However, I have had many personal experiences with this. Though I cannot give you the professional help you, like me, may need, I can give you advice as a human you can relate to, as a person you talk to, and as a friend you can come to.
can the constant disapproval of people cause one person to drop in self- esteem? or are you just born with low or high self-esteem? and can Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have an effect on a person's self reflection?
ReplyDeleteI'll let Emma take the self esteem portion of your comment, but as the anxiety disorder person here I would like to add something about PTSD and self reflection. I think that all anxiety disorders, PTSD included, can have an effect of someone's self reflection. I do not believe that the actual disorder causes the way someone views them self, but the fact that they are constantly stressed out, and in the case of PTSD, being forced to relive a traumatic event that they could possibly be ashamed of, could definitely make them feel differently about themselves, because they feel like they are not normal because of their disorder. Though they really aren't alone, they may feel like it because their disorder causes them to, which in turn could cause them to think low of themselves.
ReplyDeleteI hope this helped answer your question.
Low self-esteem is not something anyone is born with. It is true that a lot of the characteristics are genetic and that if you have a family line with lots of depression and low self-esteem issues, you are more likely to have issues like those, too. However, you have to play a huge part in your low self-esteem. Your self-esteem depends solely on you. It is also true, though, that there are many things that affect your self-esteem. Living with constant criticism and disapproval can have a HUGE affect on your self-esteem. The choice that you can make is whether you LET it or not.
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