Self esteem is how a person feels about themselves. Most of the time we can be our own worst critics. Not feeling good about how you look or your personality can lead to anxiety when you are in a group. You may be shy and reserved even though you want to talk to other people. Having self esteem doesn’t mean you are always confident or that you think you are better than others. It just means you have accepted who you are and you are willing to live with it.
Having self esteem doesn’t just happen, it is a process. Many people go through an awkward stage during adolescence. It can be hard to like yourself when you are always comparing yourself to your peers. It can be difficult to be an individual when to be popular you have to be like everyone else. Yet life isn’t always like high school and that will pass. Yet at the time this is a very important time in a child’s life. Parents need to remember what that was like so they can offer support.
Parents need to realize how important self esteem is. Teaching children from an early age to find good qualities in themselves is important. It will allow them to be happier and healthier individuals. A poor self esteem can affect a person in many ways. They may decide to drop out of school or have a hard time keeping a job. They may withdraw from other people and turn to vices such as drugs or alcohol to feel comfortable around others.
There has been a great deal of information in recent years to link poor self esteem to those with depression. Counseling is often a very effective tool in order to help with this. Changing behaviors and seeing yourself as others do is the first step of developing your self esteem. Relationships can be detrimental at times to a person’s self esteem as well.
For example they may have a partner that calls them names and tells them they are stupid. They may get the impression from them that no one else will ever want them. Over a period of time they come to believe this. The self esteem a person has is very important to their overall happiness and mental stability.