What is low self-esteem?
- Low self-esteem is when a person has low confidence about who they are or what they are capable of. Feeling bad about yourself can be very painful and cause problems in many areas of your life. It can make it difficult to concentrate or get things done, make it hard to stand up for yourself, or make you vulnerable to being abused.
- Low self-esteem can make you feel like you don't deserve to be treated well by other people or that you don't deserve good things happening in your life. Therefore, having low self-esteem can be related to depression. Feeling bad about yourself and like you are not good enough can also make the world feel like an intimidating place, contributing to anxiety.
- Low self-esteem can be a lingering effect of trauma. Internalizing beliefs that you are worthless or unlovable can actually protect you in some ways when you are in an abusive or neglectful situation that you can't escape.
- When addressing low self-esteem, it is important to examine the negative beliefs you have about yourself to identify where they came from and challenge them. Self-compassion (treating yourself the way you would treat a good friend) can be very helpful for recovering from low self-esteem.
More information about low self-esteem:
https://www.healthline.com/health/low-self-esteem
https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/hwc/low-self-esteem
If you are struggling with low self-esteem, please reach out to book a free consultation. Learn more about our self-esteem therapy services here.
