Low Self Esteem

I always pictured self esteem as the amount of actual steam in a tea pot. The more steam one had the better they would feel. Sadly, my teapot was often running low. I wanted to be confident and not care what others thought about me, but it felt like the

Self-esteem relates to a person’s social network, what they participate in and the feedback they get from others. Positive self-esteem affects a person’s mental and psychical health. Low self-esteem is linked to depression, health and social issues. People’s confidence can change with the environment they are in such as home or school.

According to the American Psychological Association (2010), the definition of self-esteem is the degree to which the qualities and characteristics contained in one’s self concept are perceived to be positive. It reflects a person’s physical self-image, view of his or her accomplishments and capabilities, and values and perceived success in living up to them, as well as ways in which others view and respond to that person. The more positive the cumulative perception of these qualities and characteristics, the higher one’s self-esteem. A high or reasonable degree of self-esteem is considered an important ingredient of mental health, whereas low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness are common depressive symptoms.

Whether it is a simple filter used for an Instagram picture, or airbrushing away the noticeable pores on a model’s nose and trimming down their stomach size for a magazine cover, photos are almost always edited and retouched to fit society’s standards as to what is acceptable. In a generalized sea of low self-esteem, leg cellulite and blemishes are deemed as “ugly,” whereas thigh gaps and collarbones are praised and epitomized as the standards for a woman’s body. On a similar note, the same can be said for men, as they are expected to have muscular bodies that are chiseled to perfection to reinforce their masculinity. Knowing the harms of being underweight, we still blindly glamorize anorexia within entertainment and the media, creating a correlation between false image beauty standards and the source that causes disordered eating. Due to its exerting influence, the media makes plus-sized women and short, scrawny men believe they are unattractive and undesirable, leading to unhealthy choices to “better” themselves. A disclaimer should always be required whenever the figure and appearance of people in any form of media is altered or enhanced, because disclaimers create ethical beauty standards for society which can affect the human psyche, and lessen the frequency of eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder.

In psychology, self Esteem is a word to mirror a person's general assessment or appraisal of own worth. Self Esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. 'The self-concept is what people think about the self, Self Esteem, and the positive or negative evaluation of the self. An individual’s self-concept involves of the viewpoints one has about oneself, one’s self-perception, or, as (Hamlyn, 1983), expresses it, "the picture of oneself". Baumeister, Smart and Boden (1997) described self-concept as totally perception which people hold about themselves. It is not the "facts" about one-self but rather what one believes to be true about one-self (Mercer, 2008). Self-esteem protects the individual from potentially debilitating emotions as they work to reestablish and maintain a match between standards and perceptions. Self-esteem is able to defense the individual from such negative consequences both directly and indirectly.

Self-esteem, also known as self-respect, is the confidence in one’s worth or abilities. Low self-esteem is the opposite or lack of confidence in one’s own worth. Self-esteem is shaped throughout one’s life, it will increase and decrease throughout life but with essentially remain at the same level. Self-esteem has both positive and negative affects depending on if an individual has low or high self-esteem. There is more research on the effects of low self-esteem because it usually has to most negative effects on someone’s health. Self-respect can also influence one’s decision making, people with low self-esteem generally make poor or unwise decisions due to lack of confidence. Bullying can be caused by low self-esteem or causes the development of low self-esteem. Someone who does not have high levels of self-confidence may try and belittle others to feel better about themselves; being bullied can in turn cause someone to feel bad about themselves, therefore, causing low self-esteem. Ultimately, low self-esteem has been known to negatively affect someone’s health, it can cause anxiety, depression, or lead to drug usage. Self-esteem has been studied for decades, by focusing on the development, self-imagery, effect on decision making, bullying, and the negative effects that follow the high or low levels of self-esteem we are able to unravel how self-esteem effects our lives and how we can change our own self-esteem.

Self-esteem is a general appraisal of oneself in association to intrinsic positivity or negativity (Lamovec, 1994). It is a subjective evaluation of how an individual assesses their self-worth and value in context to various external factors (Rosenberg, 1965). This basic assessment of oneself has a formidable effect on human behaviour, emotion, cognition and motivation, the dynamics of which extend to multiple precincts of development, including academic achievements, careers, friendships, success and relationships (Turner, 2007). Research even suggests that

The “self” is an identity that is formed through an individual’s experiences and exploration throughout the course of their life; it is ever changing. In an individual’s discovery of their “self”, self-esteem, one’s confidence in their abilities as an individual or “self” can impact their level of happiness. As a result, an individual’s self-esteem in terms of performance, behavior, and body image can weaken or strengthen their emotional stability.

Changes in mood and personality are often the most common effect of low self-esteem. Many parents are often worried about a change of mood in their daughter’s mental stability. Low self esteem has been associated with anxiety, stress, loneliness and an increased likelihood of depression (“Self-Esteem” Utexas). The impact on mood and personality often makes an individual unapproachable, which is ironic, considering the fact that many people with low self esteem crave attention and affection.

Low self-esteem is a term that is used quite often. The way a person feels about his or her self-makes a difference in how they view themselves. Many people are concerned with what other people think about them which can have a positive or negative effect on one's self-esteem. Life is considered tough already no matter the type of lifestyle a person has. There are many people that struggle with low-self esteem and it seems to be on a constant rise today. The question is what causes people to have low-self esteem, to begin with. Low self-esteem is more serious than many people might think and has a huge impact on a person's life that could lead to depression. A person's physical appearance, family life, relationships, and academics are some of the leading causes of low self-esteem.

Self-esteem remains the center focus of academic interest, with numerous studies examining age differences predictors and change over time periods or cohorts. Having a low self-esteem can create difficulty with interest, education, and social skills. Having a low self-esteem is not only unhealthy, but it can lead to neuroticism and depression (Orth, Robins, and Roberts 2008). On the other hand, having high self- esteem can create problems as well, if one thinks they are great at everything then they have difficulty seeing their flaws. Understanding how self-esteem fluctuates has important implications for theories of personality development.

In the United States, individuals with mental illness have an unemployment rate of 60-80% compared to the overall unemployment rate of 8-10% (Chang, 2015). However, this high unemployment rate does not reflect an unwilling labor force, as many individuals with mental illness state a desire for employment (Henry & Lucca, 2004). Individuals with mental illness face stigma from multiple sources surrounding employment such as care givers, employers, and coworkers. Mental illness care givers are often contributors to stigma surrounding mental illness, and can cause low self-esteem in those they care for. This low self-esteem exacerbates the struggles individuals with mental illness experience in the work place, and contributes to their unemployment (Henry & Lucca, 2004). Individuals with mental illness encounter discrimination during the hiring process and in the types of jobs they are offered (Tsang, Angell & Corrigan, 2007; Henry & Lucca, 2004). Finally, individuals with mental illness often suffer from unsupportive work environments, which can contribute to longer recovery times since meaningful employment is an important aspect of mental illness treatment (Chang, 2015; Gold, Macias & Rodican, 2016). Mental illness stigma from care givers, employers, and coworkers must be eliminated because it contributes to unemployment.

INTRODUCTION: In the course of our life, we might have encountered a situation whereby we think of other people as been better than us. At times you may look at some successful people, and see them as perfect, being lucky and more gifted and hope you could trade places with them. On the other hand, these people also look at you and think of you as someone who is free, without many problems. You feel insecure of people and they likewise feel the same thing of you. At that moment, what you are experiencing is lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem.

Self-esteem is associated with depression, anxiety, motivation and general satisfaction with one’s life (Rosenberg, 1986).

Self esteem is someones view of themselves. Normally, self esteem can be body image or how they fell about their position in life. Factors normally that lead to low self esteem can be a part of anxiety or depression. Low self esteem in a personal life can led to someone isolating themselves from others. In a professional level, low self esteem can cause a low work ethic, and someone can be vastly behind in how much work they do and have done.